To Be A Schnee
by Lord Nyoka
Summary: Weiss struggles with her father and the weight of the Schnee legacy while maintaining a relationship with Blake and a life with team RWBY. Takes place over a period of several years. [Cross-posted from AO3]
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: **"It was supposed to be a oneshot," I cried softly to myself as I finished signing the contract pledging my soul to Checkmating Hell.

* * *

><p>"I'm gonna sleep for six years," Yang declared, stumbling into the dark room and climbing up onto her bed with all the grace of a drunken gorilla.<p>

"Ditto," Ruby muttered from behind her, dragging her feet as she moved with uncharacteristic slowness before collapsing onto Weiss's bed unceremoniously.

"I think it's fair to say that we've earned some rest," Blake added as she entered behind her teammates, carrying a bruised and exhausted Weiss in her arms. The heiress murmured a noise of agreement into her girlfriend's chest, opening her eyes just enough to notice the shadow of their leader, flopped facedown on her bed covers.

"Ruby, that's my bed," she grumbled.

"Mmrrr agnna eepn blay sed neeway," came the muffled reply as Ruby spoke directly into the sheets.

"Didn't quite catch that," said Blake, feline ears twitching in amusement.

She lifted her face just high enough to allow her mouth to move unobstructed. "You're gonna sleep in Blake's bed anyway," she clarified, "don't make me climb up." With that, she faceplanted back onto the covers.

Weiss gave only a soft groan of acknowledgement, too tired to argue as she turned back into Blake's embrace. Her face came to rest in the crook of her neck, nuzzling into the waves of black hair as a soft sigh sent a slight chill across warm skin. "You didn't have to carry me," she whispered as Blake sat down on her own bed and made no motion to release Weiss, one hand moving to rub lazy circles into her shoulder blades.

"I didn't hear you complaining when I brought you up the stairs," Blake teased before pressing a gentle kiss to Weiss's forehead.

Weiss hid a smile at the remark, recalling the early days of first semester, when Blake had taken every possible measure to ensure as little physical contact as possible with the three of them. Time and trust had both changed that, but even at the start of their relationship, her touches had still seemed hesitant, calculated. Weiss most certainly had _not_ complained when warm hands found their way to her back as Blake crouched beside her, eyes cast up, ears and head cocked in a wordless request.

But she would be damned if she let anyone think that she wasn't capable, even for a moment. "I can walk, you know," she replied primly, the words holding no real weight to them as her eyes slid shut with contentment.

Blake's hand traveled south, gently massaging tight knots in the muscles of Weiss's back. "You took a lot of hits in that last fight," she fussed.

"We all did," Weiss reminded her. She lifted a hand to Blake's cheek, prompting a pair of golden eyes to meet hers, glowing beacons in the shadows. There was just enough light to make out the dark circles under her eyes, the subtle lines of exhaustion etched into her face. "You need to rest."

"We all do," Blake agreed, eyes sliding shut as she leaned into Weiss's touch, the corners of her lips twitching upwards just slightly.

Yang's voice came filtering down from above, "Yeah, so how's about you lovebirds shut the fuck up."

"Hush, Yang," Weiss clipped, "I got trampled by that Ursa because _you_ attacked too soon."

"Keep telling yourself that, princess," Yang lobbed back, a loud yawn accompanying her next words, "He was going for your ass, anyway."

"Ahwe scuss tattic sinna ornin," Ruby interjected.

"Lift your head, Ruby," said Blake with a smirk.

"Can we discuss tactics in the morning?" she tried again.

"Please," Weiss agreed, fingers moving from Blake's cheek to her hair, then to the soft ears that were so rarely covered by a bow anymore. That particular touch was a more recent allowance, one Weiss still approached with some hesitance, more out of respect than any personal misgivings. They were a part of Blake, and loving Blake meant loving every part of her. Any lingering reluctance fell away when she felt her girlfriend's entire body relax, tension exiting via a delighted shiver and a soft sigh. A low purr rumbled from her chest, earning a pleased grin from her girlfriend as she leaned against the hand that continued to draw calming circles into her back.

They sat like that for several minutes before Weiss stretched out on the bed, kicking off her boots and letting them fall carelessly to the floor as she leaned back, tugging gently on Blake's wrist to guide her down onto the bed beside her.

"Do you want to change into pajamas?" Blake asked.

"Mmm," Weiss closed her eyes, wrapping one arm around her girlfriend and letting her free hand move back up to Blake's ears, continuing right where she had left off. "I don't want to move."

"Wow. You _must_ be tired. Sleeping in your dress?" Blake mused, peering down at Weiss in mock horror.

"Contrary to popular belief, it's not actually the end of the world," Weiss replied, the end of her sentence punctuated with a loud yawn.

"Who are you, and what have you done with Weiss Schnee?" Blake lowered her head down to the pillow, tilting it to give Weiss's wandering fingers easier access.

Blake began purring again, and Weiss shifted downwards to press her face against Blake's chest, humming appreciatively as the sound surrounded her. Her muscles still ached from the abuse of the day, pain covering her like a blanket, but she felt far removed from the stresses of the mission while wrapped in her girlfriend's warm embrace.

The purring was so loud that she almost missed the sound of her scroll vibrating on the bedside table.

"Is that you?" Blake asked, ears twitching as she lifted her head, much to Weiss's displeasure.

"Who the hell would be messaging me at two in the morning?" she muttered, spine cracking audibly as she threw out a hand to grab the device that was lighting up. She pulled the scroll to her face, blinking in the harsh white light and squinting to read in the darkness.

"Oh,_ fuck_," she swore ineloquently, sitting bolt upright on the bed and staring down at the scroll with wide eyes.

"Hmm?" Blake sat up beside her, brow furrowing in concern at the sudden outburst. "What's wrong?"

Weiss read the lines again and again, as if trying to convince herself that they weren't real. "It's my father," she finally whispered once she was quite certain that she wasn't imagining things, "he's coming to visit."

"Shit, are you serious?" Yang's voice filtered down again, this time accompanied by a waterfall of blonde hair as she leaned over the side of the bed to give Weiss an upside-down stare.

"He'll be here by tomorrow afternoon," she confirmed with dread. "Or, well, this afternoon, technically. He's in Vale for a business deal."

"Uz ee nobout us?"

"Ruby…"

Ruby popped up off the bed, peering through the gloom to look at her teammates with concern. "Does he know about us?" The implication behind the question was clear as both sisters turned wary gazes to Blake, whose face was cast in shadow, impossible to read.

Weiss shook her head. "Only your names. Unless he's done his own research," she said with a sigh. "He doesn't ask me for details, usually. Just…checks up on me to ensure I'm not disgracing the family too horribly."

Silence filled the room for a long moment, strained and awkward.

"Should I wear my bow?" Blake asked with a voice devoid of emotion.

Weiss was shaking her head before she could finish the question. "I could never ask you to do that."

Blake watched her girlfriend closely, searching for the words she wouldn't say. "It'll be easier if I do, won't it?"

Silence returned. Weiss pressed her lips into a thin line.

"I'll take that as a yes."

Weiss turned to Blake, face twisted into a pained expression. "You said you wouldn't hide anymore. I don't want you to feel like you have to."

A smile forced itself onto Blake's features. "It's not a big deal," she reassured, "I wore it all of first year, I can certainly have it on for a day."

"I'm so sorry –" Weiss started, but Blake pressed a finger to her lips and shook her head.

"You have nothing to apologize for." She looked past Weiss, meeting Yang's upside-down gaze and Ruby's expression of mild terror. "As for the two of you, be on your best behavior. Ruby, you should probably cut down on the sugar intake by at least half. Yang, no lewd jokes. And go easy on the puns."

"Cool it around the Ice King. Got it," Yang said as she withdrew.

Ruby sighed at the instruction. "Maaan, you sound like Weiss."

"I'm saying it so that she doesn't have to," Blake said firmly, one hand wrapping around her girlfriend's shoulder. Weiss was staring at the scroll again, looking as if she might throw up on it. Blake slid a hand up her back, pressed a soft kiss to her cheek, laying gentle touches to remind the heiress that she was safe and loved. She relaxed only slightly, letting the scroll slip from her grip as she fell back onto the bed with a weary sigh.

"It's going to be okay," Blake whispered, pulling Weiss back into her arms, gently turning her face until blue eyes met gold. Their lips met briefly in a soft, chaste kiss, calling Weiss back from the worried storm of her thoughts. "For now, just get some sleep. You'll need it."


	2. Chapter 2

Weiss Schnee had a habit of bringing a slight chill wherever she went. In the event of her composure slipping, she could lower the temperature of a room by a few degrees, just barely noticeable. It was a gentle breeze, a passing of wind with the whispered hint of snow, the sort of cold that preceded a light flurry in the early weeks of December.

Arktis Schnee was the gust before a blizzard. One needed only to look at him, to take in the sight of his immaculately tailored white suit, perfectly trimmed hair, ghostly pale skin and cerulean eyes to feel a sharp shiver all the way to the base of the spine. He held himself with the demeanor of a man who had never smiled in his life, face etched into a stoic expression that betrayed exactly nothing of his thoughts.

He towered over the heads of every student in the dining hall, taking in the endless rows of uniforms while his daughter held her hands in a death grip to keep them from shaking. "Welcome to Beacon," she managed to say in the calm, respectful voice that conveyed emotions staunchly opposed to the turmoil in her head as she led her father down the rows of tables towards her team. His eyes darkened at a table of first-years hosting a localized food fight by shoving pudding into each other's faces. As he walked, a few stares turned his way, voices stilling behind him as students gradually came to recognize the head of SDC in their midst.

"I'd like to introduce you to my team," said Weiss, drawing his attention to the table with a sweeping gesture, where Ruby was picking unhappily at a plate of spinach while Yang beamed a too-wide smile and waved enthusiastically. Across from them, Blake sat up straight, black bow perched perfectly atop her head as she looked up to meet Weiss's gaze with a reassuring glance. "This is my team leader, Ruby Rose, and her sister, Yang Xiao Long."

"Greetings, Mr. Schnee!" Yang called out, signaling Ruby to drop her fork and look up with wide eyes at the approaching pair.

"H-hi there!" she stammered, quickly mirroring her sister's wave.

"And this is Blake Belladonna, my…fourth teammate." Her breath caught for just a moment before she produced the description.

Blake's smile was so natural that for a moment, it almost fooled Weiss. "A pleasure to meet you, sir," she said respectfully, extending a hand in his direction.

Arktis took the hand and shook it once, brusquely, eyes ghosting over the three girls with his cold, unchanging expression. "This is your team?" he asked without looking at his daughter.

Weiss swallowed past the lump in her throat. "Yes. We're one of the highest ranked teams in our year."

"I would expect no less of you," he replied shortly, though something about his tone led Weiss to believe he would probably expect less of the three sitting in front of him.

"Yeah, we're kind of the bee's knees," Yang boasted, jumping a bit at what was presumably her sister kicking her under the table.

"Weiss is my partner," Ruby said quickly, smiling at her as she spoke. "She's a really great teammate! I'm happy to have her."

"Certainly," said Arktis.

"We're all happy to have her," said Blake. "Weiss is exceptional in combat. She's proven to be a wonderful ally…and a great friend."

Arktis considered Blake, studying her for a beat longer than Weiss thought was strictly necessary. "She is not here to make friends," he finally said, a sliver of ice creeping into his tone. "She is here to improve her skills."

"Which she has also excelled at," Blake continued without missing a beat. "But that's no surprise, of course, considering the family she comes from. Schnees have a proud history, of course. One that she has taken every measure to uphold."

Weiss blinked, taken aback by her girlfriend's words. She glanced sideways at her father, who seemed almost pleased, turning his full attention to the girl in front of him. "We will see if she does, with time. I am glad to see that she has instilled a respect for the family name."

Blake smiled again, looking at Arktis as if he were a man she'd looked up to all her life. Yang and Ruby were staring at her now, covertly exchanging glances as she spoke. "Very much so. The Schnee legacy is certainly awe-inspiring. The advancements that SDC has made are a beacon of light in our battle against the Grimm. For that, you have my thanks, and the thanks of every Huntsman and Huntress in this room, I am certain."

"_You don't have to do this_," Weiss mouthed when she was certain her father could not see her. Blake's mouth twitched slightly in response.

Arktis raised his eyebrow a fraction of a degree, a gesture that usually conveyed that he was impressed. "Everything we do, we do for the sake of humanity," he recited.

"Is that your _guaran-schnee_?" Yang interjected, much to the horror of everyone within earshot.

The next two seconds seemed like an eternity. Weiss felt her stomach hit the floor.

"Excuse me?" Arktis's composure slipped, a deep frown etched on his features.

"Yang," Ruby said hastily, eyes the size of saucers, "Yang, no!"

"What?" Yang asked when Blake covered her face with her hand. "I thought that one was good…"

"How about we meet team JNPR?" Weiss spoke rapidly, trying to ignore the heat currently flooding her face and gesturing to the table beside her teammates, where Pyrrha, Nora, and Ren were not-so-discreetly eavesdropping.

"Hello!" chimed Pyrrha, gathering herself quickly and holding her hand out to Weiss's father. "I'm Pyrrha Nikos. It's lovely to meet you!"

Arktis turned away from Yang, scowl fading when his gaze fell to the girl in front of him. "Nikos? I believe I've heard of you," he said as he took her hand.

"Pyrrha's a bit of a celebrity," Ren said from behind her.

"A bit?" Nora scoffed, "Pyrrha's amazing! Everybody knows _that_."

"Good to meet you, Ms. Nikos." He turned to his daughter and spoke bluntly, "why isn't she on your team?"

Weiss felt another rush of heat as she shot apologetic glances at the three. Pyrrha faltered for a moment before forcing a smile. Nora stifled a giggle, helped by Ren's hand, which caught hers in a death grip for just a moment.

"That's…not really how it works…" Weiss struggled for an explanation until she caught sight of Jaune, who was rapidly approaching his team's table. "And here's Jaune Arc!" she blurted, grateful for any sort of distraction at that particular moment, "JNPR's team leader!"

"Hmm?" Jaune stopped, looking up at Arktis with confusion before the realization hit. "Oh! Yeah! Hi, Mr. Weiss's dad!" before Arktis could show any reaction to the offhand greeting, Jaune turned away, eyes falling to the table beside him. "Blake? Why are you wearing that bow again? Are your ears cold?"

Weiss's heart stopped beating.

"Jaune!" Pyrrha scolded, her voice completely devoid of the near-infinite patience she usually displayed for the boy.

"What?" he asked, throwing his hands in the air in an exaggerated shrug, "she hasn't covered her ears since last semester!"

Nora leveled him with a death glare, suddenly very serious. "Jaune. Stop talking."

Weiss felt her lunch start to rise up in her throat. She looked at Blake, just able to make out the terrified expression on her girlfriend's face through her blurring vision. Yang and Ruby sat still as statues, both looking as if they were ready to spring up at any moment. Arktis paused, mouth closing, brow furrowing. He turned, slowly and deliberately, back to the first table. Blake managed to display a calm, collected demeanor before his eyes fell to her again, narrowing on the black bow.

"My ears are fine, Jaune," she managed to keep her voice level as she answered, "thank you."

A huge hand closed around Weiss's wrist and pulled her away from the table without a word. Weiss did not resist as her father led her out of the dining hall, casting a frightened glance back over her shoulder. Blake, Yang, and Ruby had all stood up, the sisters looking as if they were about to throw themselves into a fight. Blake just looked pained, mouthing a desperate apology that Weiss shook her head at immediately. Blake shouldn't apologize. She shouldn't ever have to.

She winced as the double doors slammed shut behind them. Arktis still hadn't let go of her wrist as he marched down the hall. "Your teammate is a faunus," he stated coolly.

"Yes," Weiss admitted, because there was no point in denying it.

"Your teammate is a faunus…and you chose to hide it from me."

She captured her lip between her teeth, staring down at the floor and reaching for any explanation that would get her out of this.

"Answer me."

Thinking of none, she settled on the truth. "Yes."

He stopped short, giving a single, determined tug of her wrist, yanking her as his other hand made sharp contact with her cheek. She couldn't help the soft cry that fell from her lips, opening her eyes to find him looking down at her, face the same perfectly impassive mask he so often wore.

"Why?" he demanded.

"Because I knew you'd react this way if you found out."

"Then why did you do it?" he asked again, lowering himself until he was looking directly into her watering eyes. She blinked the tears away, trying to banish the throbbing sensation that burned where he had struck her. "Why did you put yourself on a team with an _animal_?"

"She's not an animal!" Weiss blurted out, earning herself another slap in exactly the same place as the previous one.

"Do not ever speak to me like that," he growled, voice low and dangerous. "You have lied to me. You have disgraced yourself by accepting a _child_ for a leader and _filth_ for a teammate. Do_ not_ make this worse by talking back to me." He redoubled his grip on her wrist, practically dragging her down the empty corridor.

"Where are we going?" Weiss asked, struggling to keep up with his stride, free hand clutching her cheek and willing the pain to stop.

"To speak with your Headmaster."

They rounded a corner, and Arktis pulled his daughter into the small elevator. Weiss shivered as the doors closed, very aware of the chill that permeated the enclosed space. They rode up in deafening silence.

The door opened, revealing a large, circular room with wide windows, gears adorning nearly every surface. In the center of the room, Professor Ozpin looked up from his desk. If he was surprised to find the head of SDC standing in his office with his terrified-looking daughter, he did not show it. "Arktis Schnee," he said by way of greeting, "to what do I owe the pleasure?"

"There appears to have been some mistake," Arktis began, his voice perfectly mirroring Ozpin's dispassionate tone. "I sent my daughter to your school to learn leadership and self-discipline, qualities which she is sorely lacking in." Weiss flinched, but said nothing. "Instead, I find that she has been placed on a team with a child as her leader, alongside a crass imbecile and a faunus degenerate."

"I see," said Ozpin, taking a sip of coffee.

"You are quite respected throughout the kingdoms, and I am sure this is merely due to some sort of oversight," he continued. "I would be willing to overlook the mistake, assuming it is corrected at once."

Ozpin considered the man in front of him for a moment, drumming his fingers on his desktop with the hand that wasn't busy holding his coffee mug. "Team RWBY has performed above and beyond my expectations in the short time they've been here," he began. "Their team leader, while young, is in every way a prodigy. She has achieved mastery of the ballistic scythe, one of the most dangerous weapons in the world. She is from a family renowned for their skills as Huntsmen and Huntresses. Her sister possesses unparalleled strength and stamina. As for her personality, she is one of the friendliest, most caring individuals you will find on campus." His eyes narrowed just slightly as he continued. "Blake Belladonna was raised outside of the kingdoms. She grew up in combat, and necessity is a better teacher than any professor. She has lived a hellish life, and emerged with admirable strength of character, despite facing oppression you and I can't even begin to comprehend. If you want the best for your daughter, I assure you, she is already surrounded by it."

Weiss felt her heart swell at his words. Her team was one of the most important things in her world, but she knew that to say so out loud would equate a death sentence.

Arktis, however, seemed wholly unaffected. "I am quite certain I could find better, myself," he countered. "Within your own walls, even. Just before coming here, I was introduced to Pyrrha Nikos."

"Pyrrha Nikos is a very formidable fighter, and I will not put her down simply to make a point. But I will say that she is exactly where she needs to be, as is Weiss. I do not shuffle teams after they are created, particularly not this far into their training. To do so would disrupt the bonds that I work very hard to foster between teammates."

"There lies the problem," Arktis insisted. "I do not want my daughter fostering bonds, as you call it, with those three."

Ozpin raised an eyebrow, turning his attention to Weiss. "You've been quiet thusfar. Care to voice your opinions on the matter?"

Weiss stared at him for a long moment, taking comfort in his reassuring gaze. She thought of Ruby, of the girl's insufferably cheerful attitude and rash decisions - the bold, aggressive friendliness that had managed to help pull her from her shell. She thought of Yang, the fiery bruiser who alternated between being absolutely infuriating and being incredibly sweet and thoughtful. Mostly, she thought of Blake, the aloof faunus who had kept her at arm's length for what had felt like an eternity, orbiting her like a satellite just out of reach before she had dared to reach out and touch her, to pull her in, to wrap herself around the girl who had previously inhabited a completely different universe. And though there was sometimes pain, hesitation, and uncertainty as they gradually learned each other, Weiss wouldn't trade the love she had found in Blake's embrace for anything. Though she thought these things, she said simply, "I've put a lot of work into this team. I don't want to see it come undone."

"That's settled, then," said Ozpin, taking a long sip from his mug.

Arktis frowned at his daughter, opening his mouth to speak before a sharp buzzing from his pocket interrupted. He immediately turned his attention to his scroll, eyes scanning the message at lightning speed, frown lines deepening. "This most certainly is not _settled_," he clarified, "but I have some urgent business to attend to for the moment. You can be sure that I will be in contact," he said to the Headmaster, before turning to Weiss. "You would do well to remember your place at this school. Do not feel the need to lower yourself just to fit in. You are a Schnee," he declared, touching his fingers to the cheek he had struck and eliciting the slightest flinch from his daughter, "and you will act like one, even if I have to remind you what that means." With that, he departed.

The moment the doors closed behind him, Weiss exhaled the breath she hadn't realized she'd been holding.

"Are you alright, Weiss?" Ozpin asked, a touch of sympathy lightening his features.

"I'm fine," she said quickly. "He's…protective."

"I see."

Weiss sighed heavily, pressing two fingers to the bridge of her nose to try and keep the tears at bay. She would _not_ let herself cry in front of the Headmaster.

"I'll assume that he is unaware of your relationship with Miss Belladonna, correct? I should probably know if we're to be in contact."

Weiss stiffened, looking up at him with surprise. "How did you…?"

"I make it my business to know what's going on at my school," he said cryptically. "I'm not here to judge you, or to tell you that you're wrong. There is too much pain in the world to begrudge each other's happiness, wherever it may be found. And, if you tell me that you'd like for this information to be safe from the eyes of your father, I will honor your request. That is yours to deal with, or not, on your terms."

"Yes…thank you," Weiss breathed, "I don't want him knowing. Not now. Thank you so much, professor," she stammered.

"Understood. Go back to your team, Weiss," he said by way of dismissal, and she left his office on shaking legs.


	3. Chapter 3

"I can't just stand here and do _nothing_!" Blake roared, pacing their room for the fiftieth time while Ruby and Yang watched with wary eyes.

"I don't think there's anything any of us can do," Ruby said gently. "We'd probably only make it worse, to be honest."

Blake paused, whirling around to face her leader. "Worse? _Worse_? She's already in so much trouble, because of _me_!" her hands went up to her bow, tearing at the ribbon and flinging it across the room.

"No," corrected Yang, "she's in trouble because her dad's a judgmental asshole." She stood up, placing both of her hands on Blake's shoulders as she spoke. "Don't you dare put this on yourself. I won't let you do that."

The faunus grit her teeth against the onslaught of emotion, fighting the tears that threatened to surface. She looked away from Yang's intent gaze, suddenly unable to meet her eyes. "What am I doing? Why the hell do I think I can be with the heiress of SDC? What gives me the right?"

Yang opened her mouth to speak, but Ruby beat her to it. "Weiss loves you, Blake. Despite everything in her world screaming at her, telling her that she shouldn't, that she can't, Weiss _loves_ you!" she slid off the bed, moving to stand beside her sister so she could look into her teammate's eyes. "Do you know what that means? What that's worth? Yeah, sure, it's hard sometimes. It's gotta be. But I know that you love her, too, and that's saying just as much. And don't ever tell me that it's not."

Blake lost the battle to keep the tears in, one rolling down each cheek as she managed a small smile at the sisters. "Thank you. Both of you. I needed to hear that." She rubbed her face with the back of her hand, sniffling loudly. "I'm going to kill Jaune the next time I see him," she murmured, because anger was easier to deal with than sadness.

"That was pretty bone-headed, even for vomit boy," Yang agreed, guiding her partner back to her bed and sitting her down.

"Did anyone, like…talk to him first?" Ruby asked.

"I warned Pyrrha that Weiss's dad was coming," Yang replied. "She said she'd talk to the rest of the team about it. Jaune might not have gotten the memo."

Blake snorted. "I bet he's getting it now, loud and clear. Even Ren looked like he was about five seconds away from ripping his head off."

Yang reached out a comforting hand, pulling Blake into a half-hug and letting the faunus rest her head on her shoulder. "We were all on edge. See? Everyone cares about you guys. We want to help you both."

Blake managed a weak smile, glancing between her teammates with gratitude before the expression faded. "I wish we could help Weiss," she muttered.

The door opened, and Weiss stepped in, closing it behind her with a soft _click_ and leaning her forehead against the wooden frame.

"Weiss!" Blake called, jumping up off the bed. Ruby and Yang leapt up beside her, looking at their teammate anxiously. "Weiss…are you okay?"

She didn't answer right away, standing perfectly still against the door for several seconds before her shoulders began to shake and quiet sobs reached Blake's ears, tugging painfully at her heart.

"Weiss…" she closed the distance, laying a hand on her girlfriend's shoulder, and Weiss whirled around and buried her face into Blake's chest as the sobs grew louder. The faunus shushed her, a few stray tears of her own falling into the cascade of white hair that fell around them as she wrapped her arms around Weiss and held her tightly.

"I'm so sorry," she choked out between sobs, hands moving to clutch at the front of Blake's uniform in a desperate attempt to pull the girl closer.

"You don't have to apologize," Blake whispered, pressing warm lips to her girlfriend's forehead.

"Hey, Ruby," came Yang's voice, quiet and uncertain, for once. "Wanna go see what team CFVY's up to?"

Weiss lifted her head from Blake's chest, just enough to speak freely. "Don't go," she requested softly. "Please. I need all of you here."

Ruby was across the room in a flash, arms wrapped around both Weiss and Blake, face resting on her partner's shoulder. Yang followed her, joining the group hug with a tight squeeze.

Weiss hummed in appreciation when the sobs gradually slowed to nothing, burying herself further into the crook of Blake's neck as the faunus ran her fingers through long white hair, warm in the comforting embrace of her teammates. "Sometimes I feel like you three are my real family," Weiss finally admitted softly, sending a little thrill through Blake's chest.

"That's because we are," her girlfriend whispered.

"Hell yeah!" chimed Yang.

"We're all here for you, Weiss," added Ruby.

"Thank you…so much. All of you."

"Do you wanna talk about what happened?" Ruby asked softly.

Weiss considered for just a moment before shaking her head. "Not yet. I'd like to take the day off…if that's ok with you?"

Yang shook her head. "Actually, I was planning on studying for my history exam before I go back to writing my novel. Then I was thinking of doing some yoga before my nice, comfortable bedtime of ten o'clock."

Three heads turned to stare at her with confusion.

"Yeah, I'm lying through my fucking teeth. Let's party!"

* * *

><p>"Where are we going?" Weiss asked as her teammates excitedly led her down the hallway (or, rather, while Ruby and Yang excitedly led her down the hallway as Blake walked calmly by her side with an arm looped around her shoulders).<p>

"We may or may not have planned a get-together in the event of things turning sour," Ruby explained as she skipped happily.

"It's nothing major," Yang clarified, "just a little hang-out to cheer you up!"

"Assuming you're up to it," Blake added, looking at her girlfriend with a hint of concern still present in her eyes.

Weiss grinned at the three of them, feeling her heart swell as she took in each of their faces, turned to her with anticipation. "That sounds lovely."

"Awwwesome!" Ruby cheered, disappearing in a flash of rose petals.

"Ugh," Yang groaned, rolling her eyes and taking off after her sister. "Wait up, Ruby!"

Weiss turned to Blake, meeting her attentive gaze. She reached a hand out to cup the faunus's cheek, stroking delicately to banish the uncertainty in her girlfriend's expression before leaning forward to capture warm, inviting lips in a soft kiss, pleased with herself when she felt Blake smile against her. Strong arms encircled her waist, a gentle tug bringing her flush against Blake's body as the kiss deepened, fingers tangling in black hair. Weiss lost herself for a moment, blind to everything but the delicious friction, a soft groan slipping out when Blake trapped her lower lip for just a moment between her teeth.

"Cheeky," she teased, eyes fluttering open to find Blake looking at her with tenderness that caused her heart to skip a beat. "I love you," she whispered.

It wasn't the first time she'd said the words, but they were still new, softly spoken with hesitance born out of the months they'd spent in opposition before finally giving in. There was a weight to them now that hadn't been there before, a promise of devotion despite the odds stacked against them. For the first time, she felt the complete truth of the statement deep within her, a powerful shudder sliding down her spine at the realization.

Blake's face grew very serious, the importance of the words filling her. She waited several seconds, letting them hang in the air before responding with certainty. "I love you, too."

Weiss beamed, tension snapping like a cut wire as she surged forward to hug Blake tightly. She felt lips on her forehead, a soft murmur at her ear. "As much as I'd love to have you all to myself, there's a fairly large gathering of people waiting for us in the student lounge."

"You all outdid yourselves," Weiss laughed, reluctantly pulling back to look into her girlfriend's eyes again. "I want to talk about what happened. But right now…let's just enjoy ourselves."

The pair interlaced their fingers and walked side-by-side to the door at the end of the hall, where raucous laughter could be heard filtering out from within.

"Exactly how many people did you invite?" Weiss inquired.

"Just JNPR, CFVY, and SSSN."

The door popped open, and Nora stuck her head out into the hall, sporting a smile so wide that it threatened to split her face in half. "Just in time!" she squealed, throwing the door open the rest of the way to reveal a room full of bodies and couches. "Come in, come in!"

"Thanks, Nora," Weiss smiled as she stepped into the room.

"Hey, there she is!" yelled Sun, jumping up from his position beside Neptune, throwing his arms open. Thirteen pairs of eyes turned to look at them with the declaration.

"Weiss!"

"Blake!"

"Awesome!"

"Welcome, you guys!"

They found themselves swept up in a whirlwind of greetings, hugs and high-fives all around, easing the tension from both of their shoulders. Weiss kept very close to Blake's side, hand reaching automatically for her girlfriend whenever they drifted. Blake picked up on her need for closeness, never straying beyond arm's reach as the small crowd reached out to them.

"You. Me. Retail therapy," Coco said by way of greeting, stepping close to Weiss and wagging her eyebrows enticingly.

"Oh yes _please_," the heiress responded, pulling her into a quick hug.

"Shopping?" called Neptune, disentangling himself from Sun and bolting over to the girls, earning an exaggerated eye roll from the disgruntled boyfriend he left behind.

Coco tilted her sunglasses down to smirk at him. "Care to tag along?"

"_Please,_" he implored. "I can never get these three to go with me," he explained, gesturing towards his teammates.

Scarlet folded their arms across their chest, quirking an eyebrow at Neptune's words. "Yeah, because some of us have more important things to do than indulging the demons of consumerism by buying ten versions of the same jacket." Beside them, Sage snorted in amusement.

"Alright, alright," Sun interrupted, reaching beneath the couch to pull out the large canvas bag he'd stowed there. "As fun as this conversation that I don't care about at all is, I'd like to officially begin this party now that Team Monochrome's here." He reached into the bag and produced a six-pack of beer, earning several hoots of appreciation from the room.

"Where did you get that?" Blake questioned, the smirk on her face implying that she was well aware of the answer.

Sun shrugged his shoulders. "How about we say it fell from the sky, hmm?"

Weiss frowned. "Sun, you really shouldn't get into the habit of stealing _absolutely everything_," she scolded.

"See, I thought you'd say that, so I came prepared," he reached into the bag again, pulling out a slim-necked bottle of white wine. "I have no idea what the hell this is, but apparently it costs about 5,000 lien, so I thought it would suit you."

The heiress's eyes nearly popped out of her head. "_Ange Niege_," she whispered reverently, reaching for the bottle, cradling it as though it were some ancient relic.

"Figured you needed some heavy-duty cheering up, ice queen," he teased.

"This needs to be chilled immediately," she declared, dashing off to find an ice bucket. Blake watched her go with amusement.

Neptune came up behind his boyfriend, looking down at the bag and giving a low whistle. "Gotta say, I'm impressed."

Sun pulled out a bottle of spiced rum and waved it in his face wordlessly. Neptune gasped, plucking the bottle from his boyfriend's hand. "This is why I love you."

"And don't you forget it," he quipped, playfully knocking Neptune aside with a swing of his hip.

Coco crossed her arms, glaring at the bag. "That's great and all, but I don't know if I'm comfortable…" she began, faltering when Sun produced a large bottle of Irish cream and set it on the table, "…drinking from…stolen…" she trailed off again when a bottle of chocolate liqueur was set down beside it, "…bottles of…" the Kahlúa didn't even make it to the table before Yatsuhashi slipped it from Sun's grip, wordlessly pressing a hand to the faunus's shoulder and giving a nod of appreciation. "Yeah, alright, I'm over it," she decided, reaching for the Irish cream.

Weiss re-entered with a bucket of ice and a few wine glasses just as Fox stepped up to the table, cocking his head. "Let me guess," he said, pretending to contemplate for a moment, glassy eyes cast skyward, "she just saw a bottle of…Bailey's?"

Beside him, Velvet giggled. "How'd you know?"

Fox turned his ear towards his teammate and grinned. "I hope she intends on sharing."

"Like hell I will," Coco muttered, falling back onto the couch, bottle in hand.

"I'll wrestle it from her, don't worry. Let me pour you a glass," Velvet insisted.

"Yo! Santa! Have I been good this year?" Yang yelled from across the room.

"Not at all! But guess what?" Sun joked, producing a bottle of bourbon and hurling it at her over the heads of everyone. "I don't give a shit!"

She caught it one-handed, glanced at the label, and burst out laughing. "That's what I like to hear!"

"You're sharing that," Pyrrha stated, pointing at Yang.

Ruby jumped up and down, looking at Sun expectantly. "Oooh! What do I get?"

Yang put a hand on top of her head, effectively halting her motions. "Slow down there, sis. You gotta pace yourself tonight, alright?"

Her sister frowned up at her, turning her pout up to full force.

"Ah ah ah," Yang held up a hand, "don't look at me like that. I didn't say you couldn't have _anything_. But I'll be watching you."

"Yeah, yeah," Ruby waved her off, gravitating towards the table where Sun was opening his small bar, clutching glasses in his tail and pouring as he took orders from those surrounding him.

A knock sounded at the door, and Nora and Ren exchanged knowing glances before stepping up to open it. Jaune stood in the doorframe, one hand nervously scratching at the back of his neck as he entered. "Room for one more?"

"We're not the ones you need to ask," Nora said, stepping aside to let him in.

Silence gradually filled the room, all eyes turning to look at him. Weiss glanced up from the couch, unable to keep a scowl from darkening her features. Beside her, Blake watched the boy with an impassive face.

"Uh, h-hey there, everyone!" he stammered, waving the hand that had been fiddling with his neck.

No one spoke.

"I, uh…" he cleared his throat and drew himself to his full height, directing his attention to Weiss and Blake. "I'd like to…apologize, for being a complete idiot earlier today."

"I'll say," Yang drawled, jumping when Ruby elbowed her in the ribs. "What? He was!"

Jaune grimaced as if he was in physical pain, but he made himself continue. "Weiss, Blake…the two of you deserve to be happy. And I put that in jeopardy. And for that…I'm really, really sorry. I didn't know your dad was insane."

"Jaune!" Pyrrha snapped.

Weiss shrugged. "He's not wrong," she admitted. "Air-headed, sure, but not wrong."

"Was it…really bad?" Nora asked hesitantly.

The heiress glanced down at her ice bucket, forcing a smile. She opened her mouth to speak, only to close it again. Blake's hand found its way to her back, and Weiss leaned forward to rest her head on her girlfriend's shoulder.

"I really hope I didn't mess things up too badly," Jaune said meekly.

"Me too," Weiss replied. "Do me a favor, Jaune. On the off-chance that you ever meet my father again, glue your mouth shut."

"And do not _ever_ comment on my bow again," Blake added coolly.

He threw his hands up in the air in a gesture of surrender. "Lesson learned," he promised.

Weiss sighed softly, turning away from him and curling up into Blake, taking comfort from the simple contact. Blake rested her chin on top of Weiss's head and began to run her fingers through long, white tresses. The motion earned a soft sigh as Weiss lost herself in the soothing touch while the party kicked back up again around them. They sat in silence, soaking up each other's presence. Weiss couldn't say how much time had passed before Sun called from across the room, breaking them out of their trance.

"Yo, Blake! Come bartend!"

Blake looked up, smirking at the crowd of people still surrounding Sun and his small forest of alcohol. "Why are you asking _me_?"

Sun held up a full glass. "Not asking, telling. Because I miss you, and because I have stout," he answered with a grin. "You're way too sober! I went to all this trouble, pulling these bottles from the sky!"

Blake's eyebrows rose at the glass, and she sat up, turning to Weiss as she moved. She took her hand, squeezing it briefly. "Is it alright if I go?"

Weiss chuckled in response, pulling the hand closer before pressing cool lips to the skin of her wrist. "I'll be fine here," she insisted. "I think my wine is almost cold enough."

She watched Blake go, laughing again when Scarlet whooped in appreciation, holding up their empty glass and tipping over sideways. Sage caught their shoulder, holding them steady, muttering something about lightweights as Blake took her position behind the table. She took the glass of stout from Sun, sipping generously before pouring a small glass of cream soda and cupcake vodka for Ruby.

Weiss watched with amusement before picking up her bottle of wine and pouring a glass of her own. As she did, Neptune and Coco exchanged a look before moving in. They sat on the couch on either side of the heiress, sympathy reflected in both of their gazes.

"Hey," Coco said to get her attention. "If you want to talk about it, noodle boy and I are here for you," she said reassuringly. "We know it can be hard, having the parents…disapprove." She lowered her sunglasses as her eyes wandered back to the table and fixated on Velvet for just a moment, lips twitching into a small smile that did little to hide the pain in her expression.

Weiss held up an empty wine glass to her in offering, but she shook her head, bringing the glass of Irish cream she was holding to her lips.

"Is your mother still being an idiot?"

Coco rolled her eyes, lowering the glass back down to her lap and resting an elbow on the back of the couch. She drew herself up and adopted a mocking tone, "_Oh honey, when are you going to find a nice boy? You know you can't actually date a rabbit, right? What did I do wrong? Is this your way of getting back at me for not letting you buy that skirt? It was too short! Now you're lying with animals, just to get revenge?_" The other two winced in sympathy. "Every fucking time I call. I didn't realize just how shallow she was until I came to Beacon. The sad part is, she loved Velvs, back before we became official. She even thought it was _just stellar_ that the school accepted faunus students from not-so-great backgrounds. And I mean, well…" her eyes wandered back across the room, where Velvet was easing a wobbling and broadly-gesticulating Scarlet into a chair and offering them a glass of water. "Who wouldn't love her, really? Then we started dating and suddenly, mom just…" she sighed heavily, "all of this _shit _just started spewing out of her mouth constantly. I feel like I barely know her anymore."

"I'm sorry, Coco," said Weiss, resting a comforting hand on her knee before taking a sip of wine. It was deliciously sweet, lingering on her tongue long after she swallowed. It almost helped her to forget the events of the day.

Almost. "My father doesn't even know that Blake's my girlfriend," she said with a tired sigh. "Just knowing that she's my _teammate_ is too much for him."

"Ouch," said Neptune. "My parents were like that." He took a long drink of rum before continuing. "Demanded that I try to change teams, at first. I had to lie and tell them that Sun was a moron who would flunk out before too long." He winced at his own words, looking down to watch the liquid swirl in his glass. "Not proud of that one, at all. And it really came back to bite me when they found out I was with him. Though…really, I doubt it would have mattered. They still won't return my calls. Last thing dad said to me was that I disappointed him."

Weiss hummed in agreement. "I know that one. I don't have to date anyone at all to hear him say that." She frowned deeply, remembering the sting of his palm against her cheek. She took another drink, nearly emptying the glass, not bothering to take time to savor it. "I…I don't know if I'll ever be to tell him," she admitted softly.

"I wouldn't blame you," said Neptune. "That man looked like he could send this whole campus into midwinter with just a glance."

Something about his words didn't sit well with Weiss, and her gut twinged with uneasiness. "_I_ would blame me, though." Her gaze wandered back to Blake, followed the movements of her girlfriend as she playfully smacked Sun, who was stroking a bottle of vodka in a rather suggestive manner. The antics brought a smile to her lips, despite everything. "I don't want to hide Blake, from anyone. She doesn't deserve that. And, if this is as serious as I think it is…" she cut herself off, a blush creeping up her cheeks. "I…wow, I'm sorry," she said quickly, "I don't usually do this."

"Do what?" asked Coco, tilting her head to the side and grinning at her friend.

"I don't talk like this," she clarified, suddenly feeling flushed.

"We'll say it's the wine, if that makes you feel any better," she teased. "Looks like your girl's headed back here, and mine looks like she could use a break," her hand came to rest on Weiss's shoulder, pulling her into a brief side-hug. "But we can continue this conversation when we go shopping tomorrow, if you like."

Weiss returned the embrace, nodding gently. "I appreciate it. Thanks for coming over here, you two."

"Anytime," said Neptune, standing up just as Blake reached the couch.

"I don't know how strong that banana liqueur is, since your little golden boy won't let me see the label," Blake gestured back towards the table with a thumb over her shoulder, "but he's downing it like water."

Neptune laughed, reaching for his goggles and sliding them down over his eyes. "Thanks for the warning," he said as he left to collect his boyfriend.

Blake sat down in the spot he'd just vacated, arms opening automatically to allow Weiss to lean against her. "Hey, you," she purred softly, planting a kiss on the top of her head.

"Hey, yourself."

Warm hands were on her again, grounding her, seeking out points of tension and easing them away. "How drunk are you?"

"Mm, hardly," Weiss responded. "Just enough to be talking a lot. You?"

"I feel a slight buzz, but that's about it. I turned down about half the drinks Sun was trying to get me to taste," Blake explained. She considered for a moment, wrapping a lock of white hair around her finger. "You're cold," she remarked gently.

"Hmm?"

"Your Semblance," she clarified, hands spreading out to take the chill from porcelain skin.

"Sorry," Weiss murmured. "I really haven't had much, honestly," she said, embarrassed.

Golden eyes widened in amusement, a hint of a twinkle in them as Blake's hands moved. "You've had a long day, and you are drinking chilled wine of all things."

"_Ange Niege_ is heavenly," Weiss sighed softly, leaning further into her touch and feeling warmth begin to return to her limbs. "Trust me," she offered, hoisting her glass into the air and offering the last sip to her girlfriend, who tilted her ears back as if the glass was an enemy that might bite her.

"I didn't develop much of a taste for wine outside the kingdoms," she explained, making a face.

"If this doesn't convert you, nothing will," Weiss assured, swirling the contents enticingly.

Blake narrowed her eyes at the glass, pupils flicking back and forth between it and Weiss. "I'll consider it," she finally allowed, "if you'll try something that may actually put some color in your cheeks."

Weiss faked a gasp. "Blake Belladonna, are you trying to get me _drunk_?"

"I could ask you the same, Miss Schnee," Blake teased, nodding at the glass at it retracted.

"Miss Schnee?" Weiss asked, both eyebrows raised. "Really?"

Blake's answering smirk made her roll her eyes.

"Alright, fine. Color in my cheeks. What's Yang drinking?"

Both of them turned to the far side of the room, where Yang and Pyrrha seemed to be locked in an intense staring match, a bottle of bourbon and an empty shot glass on the ground between them.

"I am not interrupting that," Blake said quickly while Weiss looked for another solution.

"Pardon, I overheard you," said a voice behind them, and they both turned around to face Fox, who was holding a steaming mug in his hands. "Peppermint chocolate," he declared as he offered the drink to Weiss. "Modest, but not too strong."

Weiss smiled and wrapped her chilled fingers around the mug. "Thank you, Fox," she said gratefully.

"I find a warm drink to be a powerful thing after a hard day," he replied with a nod.

She took a sip, feeling soothed as the hot liquid slid over her tongue. When she swallowed, the warmth seemed to be twofold, spreading quickly to her limbs. She was left with a cool taste of mint in her mouth when she inhaled. "Wow, it's perfect," she decided, "Would you like some wine?"

"I'll pass, I'm done for the night. But thank you, and have a good evening," he said as he quickly walked away, clearly trying to be as unobtrusive as possible.

She turned back to Blake to meet a half-lidded stare. Wordlessly, she pressed her nearly-empty wine glass into the palm of her hand, earning an amused twitch of feline ears. Blake brought the glass to her lips and inhaled softly. The aroma made her pause.

"What?" Weiss giggled.

"It smells sweet," Blake muttered in confusion before tilting the glass and finishing it off. "Wow."

"Good wow?"

"Good wow," she glanced back down at the glass.

Weiss reached for the bottle and passed it to her. "Please, help yourself," she offered, watching as she poured a second glass.

"Thanks," Blake answered. "Can I ask what you're so talkative about?"

"Nothing pleasant," Weiss said, tone apologetic.

Her girlfriend's face grew serious. "I'm listening, if you have more to say."

She turned to look into warm golden eyes, feeling a stab of pain in her chest at the thought of being separated from that gentle, loving look. "He's going to take me away from you," she whispered, her voice breaking a little as she spoke. "He's going to take me off the team."

The eyes hardened, determination flooding Blake as she gripped Weiss a little tighter. "No, he isn't," she stated firmly. "Ozpin would never let him do that. We're a team."

Weiss wanted to believe her words, but she couldn't bring herself to hope against the man who had always found measures of obtaining the results he wanted. "My father isn't the sort of person to back down from these kinds of things," she said, lowering her eyes to her mug.

Blake slipped a hand beneath her chin, lifting her head back up, locking their gazes again. "Do you think that I am?" she asked softly. Weiss could read the aggression she had been expecting to see directed at her father now, muscles tensing instinctively at the whisper of a challenge.

"No," was all Weiss could manage to say, leaning forward and kissing her briefly.

"I'm here for you," Blake insisted when they parted, "For as long as you'll have me," she added, voice full of conviction.

"Then you'll probably be here for awhile," Weiss teased as she leaned back into Blake's arms. "Why did you say those things to him?" she asked as she suddenly recalled the bizarre, overly-formal tone she had adopted in the dining hall. "Not that I didn't appreciate the effort, but, well…it was wasted pretty quickly."

The answering chuckle held no humor. "How well would that interaction have gone if I had started interrogating him about the rights and living conditions of his faunus laborers?"

Weiss nearly choked on her chocolate.

"Exactly," Blake replied sympathetically, thumping Weiss's back a few times until the coughing stopped. "To be honest, I planned on saying very little to him. Then I saw him walk in, and…I guess I panicked a little. I could feel all of the words I wanted to say threatening to come out, so I quickly made up my mind to say the exact opposite."

"You sure didn't look flustered," said Weiss. "I almost thought you'd practiced in a mirror."

"Thank you," Blake said with a smirk. "I warn you, though…any future interactions I may have with him will not be _nearly_ as cordial."

Weiss took another sip of chocolate. It certainly felt as though it was bringing color to her cheeks. "Honestly? I'd be really thrown off if they were," she confessed. "I don't think I ever want to hear you wax poetic about the 'Schnee legacy' again."

"Yeah, that was a bit much," she agreed, face flushing a gentle shade of pink. "Joking aside, there is one part of the 'Schnee legacy' that I genuinely admire."

She was met immediately with the Weiss Schnee Explain-Yourself Glare™. Blake answered the look with another kiss, a little longer than the first.

"_Ewwww!_" Ruby's voice interrupted them as she stumbled by the couch, head lolling over the back as she looked between her two teammates. Her cheeks were a bit rosier than normal, her words coming out just a bit less coherently. "Groooss, they're _kissssing_!"

"That's enough drinks for now, Ruby," shouted Yang from across the room, one arm looped around Pyrrha's shoulders as they passed the bottle of bourbon back and forth.

Ruby huffed and stormed off towards her sister, leaving Weiss and Blake to giggle at their leader and return to cuddling on the couch. Weiss sighed in contentment, lifting her gaze to the far corner of the room, where Coco was standing with her arms around Velvet and whispering something that brought a brilliant blush to the faunus's cheeks. She then turned to Neptune as he managed to wrestle the bottle from Sun, who had somehow dragged both of them to the floor. They were howling with laughter, caught in some sort of strange cross between a tickle-fight and a cuddle, Sun's tail wrapping around Neptune's leg in his attempts to hold his boyfriend still.

"Everything will work out," she told herself, taking another sip of wine and trying to make herself believe her own words.


	4. Chapter 4

The following week, Weiss was stopped by Ozpin in the hallway on the way to class. "I have a proposition for you," he stated, extending the large envelope he was holding.

Weiss's stomach lurched at the gesture, eyes falling to the paper in his hands. "Please don't tell me I'm being re-assigned."

"Technically, no," he assured. "But, these documents will say otherwise." When he was met with only a confused stare, he continued. "In this envelope, you will find the names, pictures, and descriptions of your three new teammates. I recommend memorizing them as soon as possible so that you will be able to withstand any questioning. You will remain a member of team RWBY, unless the wrong people begin to ask questions. When that happens, you will be ready."

Shaking fingers reached for the envelope, drawing it close, as if she couldn't quite believe that it was real. "Professor…" she struggled for a moment, unsure of what to say. "Why are you doing this?"

The headmaster took a sip from his mug before responding. He seemed to choose his words very carefully, which Weiss was grateful for. "I would not break up one of my best teams based on the personal views of one man. That said, your father has a large amount of influence – one I've been experiencing firsthand this past week - and was rather unwilling to let the matter drop. So I drew up a cover that, I hope, will buy you some time. How much time is entirely up to you. I don't expect this façade to hold up forever, but I have provided you with all the tools you need to fabricate a life that may draw the eyes away from you, for the time being."

"Thank you, Professor Ozpin," Weiss said quickly. "I…I can't even tell you how much I appreciate this."

"You can, actually, by continuing to perform exceptionally as a member of your team," said Ozpin. "I have faith in you, Weiss, or I would not be going to such measures to keep you exactly where you are." He turned to depart.

Weiss looked down at the envelope again, resolving to have as much of it memorized by the end of the night as possible. "I will," she promised to his retreating figure, dashing off to her room.

Ivy Verdinfall, Linna Sky, Lilac Mae. She was now the leader of team WILL, which, judging by the accompanying pictures, was mostly a team of supermodels. On paper, they were perfect – accomplished sharpshooter, brilliant engineering prodigy, and high-class fashion designer, respectively. All three were littered with accomplishments – prize tournaments, award-winning weapons designs, spreads in Mistral's top fashion magazines. The depth of the lie startled Weiss as she produced pages of official-looking tournament standings, highly detailed blueprints, and magazine cutouts. Ozpin had spared no detail, mapping out the lives of each girl so intricately that she was convinced that each was a real person. She poured over the documents for days, quizzing herself, telling her real teammates about each one whenever they would listen.

Ruby and Yang took great amusement from the endeavor, resolving to fill in as many ridiculous details as they possibly could. Ivy listened to country music, they insisted, and Linna still slept with a stuffed pink bear every night. Lilac was the absolute _worst_ cook on the face of the planet, and had nearly burned down the whole school while trying to boil spaghetti. Weiss inevitably became annoyed by this ("No, Yang, Ivy does _not_ have a pet Beowolf, and Lilac never once tried to put it in a dress."), but felt secretly grateful to the sisters for helping her breathe life into each teammate. Her conversations with her father had grown more frequent and more personal, and she found it infinitely easier to talk about the fake teammates if she gave each of them distinct personalities. It soon became little more than a periodic series of tests to add to her schedule, which she studied for with the help of two of her teammates.

Blake would listen to the three of them, but she would always turn in on herself before too long, curling up with a book. Once Weiss had fleshed out the lie to the point where she was quite certain she could write a book on each of them, she stopped bringing them up in front of Blake.

"I'm sorry that I have to do this," she whispered to her girlfriend late one night after the sisters had fallen asleep.

Blake looked at her pensively. "I know why you have to. It's alright," she replied, squeezing her hand in reassurance. "Whatever keeps you on the team is fine by me."

"This isn't permanent," Weiss insisted, "I don't want to have to hide you."

The smile that touched Blake's face didn't quite reach her eyes. "I know."

Weeks turned into months. Ozpin occasionally brought her more envelopes, full of updates and further insight into the lives of team WILL, even going so far as to provide pictures of the four of them that looked so frighteningly real that Weiss spent hours trying to find flaws in the photo editing. Whenever her father called, she adopted a polite, respectful persona as she excitedly recounted her exploits with "the greatest team at Beacon." If he seemed pleased, he did not show it, but there was a marked decrease in his overt disapproval that convinced the heiress that her lie was working.

His next visit didn't occur until nearly a year had past, and Ozpin prepared her days in advance, providing her with a room furnished to look as if the most organized, studious people in the world inhabited it. He took care to explain to her father that the other three team members were away on a mission, while Weiss had been chosen to remain behind for an important "Leadership Skills Seminar." The effort they both had gone to seemed entirely pointless after Arktis showed up just long enough to ensure that his daughter was no longer associating with degenerates and children, barely staying a half-hour before being called away by his ever-buzzing scroll.

When he wasn't looking, Weiss threw herself fully into her missions, resolving herself to exceed the sterling, fake transcripts she was provided with. In the last semester before the beginning of senior year, team RWBY sat at the top of the standings for combat evaluation, mission performance, and academic achievement – the last of which was only accomplished by tying Yang to a chair and practically forcing textbooks down her throat.

* * *

><p>Everything seemed perfect, until the day that Weiss received a message from her father demanding that she meet him in SDC's Vale branch office. <em>Immediately<em>.

There was no time to find her teammates, but she managed one quick stop on her way to the station, grabbing Myrtenaster from her locker. The weight of it at her hip comforted her as she sent a quick explanation to the other three via her scroll. She made her way to Vale's commercial district and entered the ornate, white-bricked building on the northern border of the city. A young, blandly pretty receptionist greeted her with far too many head-bows and a smile that looked as if it was made of plastic.

"Welcome, Miss Schnee! Your father is on the twelfth floor. He's been expecting you."

Weiss nodded in acknowledgement. "Thank you."

She tried to stifle the frantic beating of her heart, mind racing as she stepped into the elevator and rode it in silence. The trip seemed to take ages as she turned over every possible reason for the strange summons. What did her father have to say to her that couldn't be said with a call?

The elevator doors opened to a large, immaculately clean office. The nameplate in the entryway claimed the room for the Regional Director, but Arktis appeared to have commandeered the largest office in the building, hands folded over the desk as he watched his daughter enter the room.

"Sit down," he said by way of greeting, and Weiss obeyed.

Cerulean eyes turned to examine her thoroughly, pausing only once they reached the weapon she carried, lips twitching in the barest hint of a frown before he spoke. "Have you spoken to Winter recently?"

Weiss furrowed her brow in confusion, unsure if she'd heard correctly. Of all the possible explanations for her father's sudden appearance, her sister had never once crossed her mind. "Not for at least a year," she said. "We're not exactly close. Last I heard she was still in Atlas studying economics."

"No longer the case. She has been hospitalized." He spoke the words as if he were stating a particularly boring fact.

"What!?" exclaimed Weiss, feeling a stab of concern. She remembered, all in a rush, the high-pitched shriek of Winter's voice growing up, the years of being referred to as "little" despite the seven minutes that separated them in age, of being called "_nothing but my reflection_" in whispered tones when no one else could hear. Thoughts of her own hospitalization after Winter had "accidentally" pushed her down the stairs resurfaced as she recalled the rivalry that had cooled with distance, words spoken that a few awkward phone conversations over the years could do very little to erase. "What happened? Is she alright?"

"There was an accident, one that was entirely her fault," Arktis explained, no hint of sympathy on his face. "She decided that recreational substances were more important than her studies, and further decided to drive into town under the influence. She somehow ended up bypassing a military checkpoint and led police on an hour long chase before crashing into the statue of general Ironwood."

Weiss could only stare in shock.

"She has been removed from critical condition, but she will never walk again. She has ceded her chair on the board at SDC, which leaves me with a predicament."

The only predicament Weiss could see was that her twin had just nearly been killed, but he proved her wrong. "I have a company to bequeath, and two daughters who have both caused me _immeasurable disappointment_." His eyes narrowed to slits.

Weiss took a moment to process the information and collect herself, resisting the urge to fold under her father's hostile gaze. "I-I'm sorry to hear about Winter. I'll visit…at my next available opportunity," her voice faltered for a moment, deepening the frown on his face.

Arktis placed both of his hands on the desk in front of him, lifting himself up to his full, impressive height before he began. "During our most recent call, you mentioned that your teammate, Ivy Verdinfall, won Vale's Regional Sharpshooting Tournament. So, perhaps you can imagine my surprise when one of my associates entered a meeting, bragging about how his son had just won that very same tournament."

Weiss's heart skipped a beat.

"I contacted the event heads. They were able to tell me that Ivy Verdinfall had entered the tournament and been giving a standing, but there was no record of her actually competing. I thought that was rather strange, so I did a small investigation. I found records of her graduation from Sanctum and her admittance to Beacon, among a few other things. But one thing was noticeably absent: there were no signatures on her transcripts."

Weiss balled her hands into fists to stop them from shaking.

"I was curious about this little anomaly, so I ran searches on Linna Sky and Lilac Mae, and found very similar results. Naturally, I was rather concerned by this. I hired a private investigator in Vale to discover the truth."

Matching pairs of ice blue eyes locked in a fierce gaze. "You've been spying on me."

"And you have been _lying_ to me," Arktis growled, reaching into his suit pocket and dropping a photograph onto the desk between them.

Slowly, Weiss leaned forward and came face-to-face with an image of herself. She was standing on Beacon's rooftop, arms around a tall girl in black, kissing her passionately. Blake's feline ears were very prominent in the photo. There was no doubt, no way to interpret the situation for anything other than what it was. Weiss felt a sort of relief, for just an instant, at the realization that she could let the lie fall to the wayside. The feeling faded the moment she met her father's piercing gaze, accompanied by a noticeable blast of frigid air against her face.

"Well, now you know," she managed to say, despite the dryness of her throat.

Her father lunged across the desk. The movement was surprisingly quick for a man of his age, and Weiss was too stunned to resist when a huge hand closed around the collar of her dress, lifting her up as his other hand collided with her face. The slap carried enough force to knock her over, and would have done so, had it not been for the firm grip on her collar. Stars exploded in front of her vision, but she managed to bite her lip to keep from crying out, one hand automatically gripping Myrtenaster's hilt at her side, eyes watering when she opened them again to face him.

His face was twisted into a mask of rage. "I catch you _kissing a degenerate_, and that's what you have to say to me?"

"Let go of me."

Another slap made contact, and this time she felt the harsh sting of metal just below her scar. Still, she did not allow herself to scream.

"Explain yourself," he demanded, releasing her. She fell back into her chair, hand reaching up to touch the point of impact. There was a cut where his ring had hit her, and a small trickle of warm liquid was falling down her cheek. She pulled back her hand to examine the blood.

"If I tell you that I love her, are you going to hit me again?" she forced out, bracing herself for another slap.

It did not come. "I would tell you that you are a fool, because she does not love you back."

Weiss grit her teeth, barely suppressing the rage that bubbled beneath the surface. "You're wrong."

The mask was back, cold and calculating. "An animal cannot love you, Weiss."

The pressure proved too much, and Weiss exploded. "Stop calling her an animal! Stop calling her a degenerate! She's a _person_!" she roared, shaking with fury as she shot up off the chair, slamming her fists onto the desk and leaving a small pool of blood. "And you're too full of blind prejudice to see that! She's been beaten down by humans her entire life, and she still made the right choice. She doesn't hate us, even though she has every right to. Yet _you_ hate _her_ because of her _ears_!"

"Have you forgotten how long this family has been at war with the faunus?" Arktis reminded, ice dripping from his tone, "How many board members have _lost their lives_?"

"This family is at war with the _White Fang_," Weiss clarified, leaning forward on the desk. "A terrorist organization that does not represent all of the faunus!"

"And has it even occurred to you that she might be _using you_?" he slammed his own fists on the desk, glaring down at her. "How can you involve yourself with an animal who would probably love nothing more than to put a blade through your chest?"

"You don't even _know her_!" Weiss snarled.

"And yet I assure you, I could hire the best assassins in Remnant to make her disappear, if I wanted to."

The temperature in the room plummeted immediately at the insinuation. Weiss gripped the desk beneath her until her knuckles stood like sharp peaks of white against the dark wood.

"I could erase her with just a hand wave," Arktis continued. He watched his daughter's hands as he spoke, taking note of the thin lines of frost that began spreading slowly across the top of the wood. "It really would be quite easy."

Weiss shook her head roughly and found her voice. "You can't."

"It is not a matter of whether I _can_," he said firmly. "It is a matter of whether or not I trust you to make the proper decisions for yourself," for a moment, he seemed to think, piercing eyes threatening to rip her apart. "Ordinarily, I would have said that I do not. But I like to imagine that, given the responsibilities that come with the full inheritance, you will come to realize on your own that what you are doing is a foolish, destructive waste of time."

Her own heartbeat pounded so loudly in her ears that she almost couldn't hear him. The fears for Blake's life had been burning a hole in the back of her brain ever since the moment Jaune had slipped up in front of her father. No matter how many times Blake assured that she was fine, that she could take care of herself, she felt the weight in her father's words when he spoke about killing Blake with all the disdain of a man speaking of killing the vermin in his house.

"Winter's mistakes cannot be fixed, but there may still be time to correct your gross ineptitude."

Weiss called on every ounce of self-control in her body to stop her from reaching across the desk. "I would like to leave now," she said softly.

"I will be calling your Headmaster, and I'm quite certain that I will contact you soon. In the meantime, I want you to think about what I have said today. You are now the sole inheritor of SDC, and I do hope that you will reflect on what that means. For now, you may go," he allowed. "Clean your face off."

The moment he gave her permission, she turned on her heel and marched towards the elevator.

"Weiss."

She almost kept walking.

"You are a Schnee," he reminded her, icy gaze sending a shudder down her spine before she stepped through the door.


	5. Chapter 5

The moment the building was out of sight, Weiss reached into her pocket with shaking fingers and pulled out her scroll.

_Oh no. Any idea what it's about? Can I help at all? Do you need me to meet you somewhere?_ read the message from Blake.

_Ohhhh that's not good is it :/ Do you need anything?_ read the message from Ruby.

_IF HE STARTS BEING A SHITHEAD CALL ME AND ILL COME PUNCH HIM IN THE FACE,_ read the message from Yang.

As she was reading, tears began to obscure her vision, but they weren't enough to block out the incoming message from Blake.

_Weiss? I'm getting worried…is everything okay?_

Weiss quickly typed out a reply. _I'll be home as soon as I can. Pack a bag. He knows._

She blinked the tears away, holding up her arm to hail a taxi. The reply was nearly instant. _What's going on? Can we call you?_

A cab pulled up a moment later, and she slipped inside with a hurried, "Beacon Academy, as quickly as possible, please," to the man sitting in the driver's seat, dialing Blake a moment later. She answered on the first ring, concerned face lighting up the screen. Her ears were drooped low, immediately flattening to her skull when the call picked up.

"Weiss? Are you…is that blood?" Golden eyes narrowed.

"Shit," Weiss cursed softly, watching the video of herself in the corner of the screen to see her free hand move to cover the red stain on her cheek. Dry flakes met her touch. "I completely forgot about that," she said apologetically.

In the background, she could hear Yang and Ruby yelling.

"_Blood!?_ I will _punch_ the _SONOFAFUCK_ –"

"Weiss, are you okay!?"

Blake said nothing, the murder in her gaze speaking volumes.

"I'm fine," Weiss blurted quickly, "it's just a scratch, my aura already closed it. That's not what's important right now –"

"He hurt you." The words sounded more like a growl than anything else.

"I'm entirely more concerned with his threats to _kill_ you!" she bit back a sob, covering her mouth with her hand. A small lattice of ice crystals began forming on the window beside her.

Blake's expression did not change, but Yang's yelling reached new decibel levels.

"_KILL YOU!? OH LET HIM FUCKING TRY_ –"

"No one is going to kill me, Weiss," Blake said simply.

Weiss squeezed her eyes shut tightly, fighting fruitlessly against the tears that were spilling over anyway. "That's not a risk I'm willing to take."

"Tell me what he said."

She took a deep breath and recalled the exact words that had filled her with such high levels of panic.

"All of it. Start from the beginning."

Weiss recounted the story in a hushed, trembling voice, watching her girlfriend's face as it shifted from surprise and sympathy over the news of Winter to increasingly more intense anger. Weiss left nothing out, stumbling over the slurs Arktis had used with embarrassment and fear. "We need to leave," she finished with a trembling voice. "He's toying with me, Blake. I can't let him kill you. I _can't_."

She was met with silence as Blake pressed a hand to her temple, rubbing firmly, anger gradually slipping from her expression. When she turned back to Weiss, it was gone, replaced with a calm, collected stare. "Listen to me," she said firmly, and Weiss slowed her rapid breathing, staring down at the screen as if it were a life raft. "I do have some knowledge of how the Schnee Dust Company has run its…more underground operations," she reminded gently. "And I have no idea where you're thinking of going that would be safer than Beacon."

"You're damn right," Yang interjected from offscreen. "Give me the scroll."

Blake looked up, eyes widening as she wordlessly handed her off to Yang. The moment the crimson-eyed girl came onscreen, Weiss understood why the exchange had been so quick. Yang was livid, steam rising off of her forearms visibly as she held the scroll at arm's length and glared at Weiss with a look that nearly melted the ice crystals that had formed on the window. "Weiss Schnee," she began, voice low and dripping with rage, "you are completely out of your mind if you think that we're going to let anyone _touch_ either of you."

Weiss flinched under the words. "Yang –"

"And you're even CRAZIER if you think we're going to let you two go prancing off in the open and away from a school full of trained killers who won't even let anyone get _near_ you."

"Beacon's been infiltrated before!" Weiss blurted out, "Just in the time that we've been here! Don't act like it's some impenetrable fortress!"

"Oh, and you have a better safe house?" she asked, face growing redder by the minute. "Where the hell would you go?"

Weiss's throat dried up at the lack of answers. She was opening her mouth to speak when Ruby grabbed the scroll, turning it to her own, deeply concerned face. "Weiss, he told you he _wouldn't_ try to kill Blake, didn't he?"

"He said that he could," Weiss asserted, "he said it like it meant nothing at all to him."

"Are you sure he meant that?" Blake asked as she joined Ruby, who brought the screen to frame both of their faces. "He wants you to inherit the company, right?"

Weiss nodded slowly. The dream that had plagued her through childhood, the one of Winter falling from her father's graces, of her being lifted onto the pedestal her sister had vacated, was suddenly coming true. And she wanted nothing to do with it. "Winter's as good as dead to him."

"Then you're all he has left," Ruby stated, face very serious.

Weiss bit down on her lip.

"We can protect Blake. We can protect _both_ of you," she insisted. "Please, come home."

"I'll be there in just a few minutes," Weiss finally offered, after glancing out the window.

Blake took the scroll from Ruby, standing up and turning her back from the sisters. Her anger was still clear, but her face softened after a few seconds. "I love you, Weiss," she whispered. "We're going to get through this."

Another tear slid down Weiss's cheek as she tried to believe the words. "I love you too, Blake."

The screen went dark, and she let it fall into her lap, leaning back in the seat with a tense sigh. When her eyes opened, she found her gaze met by a pair of wide, chocolate brown eyes in the rear-view mirror.

"Are…are you Weiss Schnee?" a hesitant voice asked.

She cursed herself silently. "I…yes," she admitted as the driver slowed at a red light, turning his head back to face her for a moment. He had a pair of chestnut dog ears, russet hair, and a curious face that didn't look to be much older than hers. He opened his mouth as if he wanted to say something before losing his nerve and turning back around.

Weiss cleared her throat loudly, wiping her tears away as best as she could. "I'd appreciate it if you wouldn't spread this around."

He looked back at her through the mirror again and shook his head. "Not a word," he said with certainty, and something in his eyes made Weiss trust him.

When they pulled up to the campus entrance, she handed him 200 lien, and his eyes widened like saucers while he informed her that was about five times the fare.

"I tip excellent service," she explained.

"Seriously, I'm not gonna tell anyone," he insisted, looking down at the street, carefully avoiding her eyes.

That's when it dawned on Weiss that he was likely afraid of her. "I appreciate it," she said, making her expression as warm as possible. "Really."

Reluctantly, he took the money from her. "Thank you. Have a nice night. And uh…good luck."

He pulled away from the curb before Weiss could respond. She took the path back to Beacon, heading immediately for the dorm. When she opened the front door, Ruby and Yang both came barreling down the hallway, nearly crashing into her as she stepped into the building.

"Weiss!" they cried in unison, throwing their arms around her and pulling her into a bone-crushing group hug. She returned it with as much strength as she could muster, feeling the heat radiating off of Yang and the way Ruby practically vibrated with energy.

The older sister's eyes still held a touch of crimson when she pulled away. "We're going to rally the troops," she explained. "Tell everyone we know who'll do it to look out for anyone acting weird around Blake. We don't have to give them the full story, if you don't want us to. But with a few dozen more eyes on her, we all might sleep a little easier."

She seemed so confident that no harm would come close to them. Weiss wanted desperately to believe her. "Tell them whatever you need to tell them to get them alert," she allowed. "Where is she?"

"In the room," said Ruby. "She wanted to wait for you."

"Thank you both," she managed a small smile and pulled them in for another hug. "For everything."

Their leader nodded. "We're a team, Weiss. We're not gonna let anything happen to either of you."

"I really can't tell you how much that means to me," she said as she let them go, watching Yang jog down the road after a cloud of rose petals.

She took the stairs two at a time, racing up to their room and laying a hand on the door, pausing for only a second to catch her breath before opening it and stepping into the dimly lit room.

Blake jumped up from her spot by the window, whirling around to face Weiss as the door swung open. She reached for her with trembling hands, uncertain for just a moment before Weiss closed the distance and threw herself into Blake's embrace.

The taller girl shifted, angled her face to look at Weiss's before lifting her fingers to her cheek. It wasn't until she reached out to brush a few tears from her face that Weiss realized that she was crying again.

"I'm so sorry for this," she whispered, voice quivering. When her eyes met Blake's again, she saw them wet with tears that wouldn't fall. "I understand if you want to leave."

Black ears twitched, the only indication Blake gave that she'd heard her. The hand that had been brushing away her tears moved to the dried blood that was still on her cheek. "I'll wash that off."

Weiss watched as she stepped past her, opening the door and disappearing into the hallway. She thought of following her for just a moment, but her feet refused to move. Mechanically, she released Myrtenaster from her hip, setting it aside on the bedside table. Blake returned a moment later, a warm washcloth in her hand. She guided Weiss to her bed and sat her down, leaning over her as she carefully wiped the blood away.

"You shouldn't have to deal with this just for me," Weiss continued, watching Blake work with a face that seemed determined not to cry.

A drop of water fell from the washcloth, dripping down the front of Weiss's dress. She drew in on herself and shivered once, violently. Blake pulled the wet cloth away.

"Please say something," Weiss murmured.

Blake moved in front of her, getting down on her knees in front of the bed, both hands gripping Weiss's tightly. "I'm not running or hiding anymore," she said with finality.

Weiss felt a rush of heat at the words, and she looked back up. "This is dangerous now."

"It's always been dangerous!" Blake blurted, a fraction of her composure slipping. "I knew that going in. You did, too." Weiss broke the stare when more tears threatened to fall, but Blake continued anyway. "I knew this was going to happen at some point."

"That doesn't make it any less dangerous," Weiss pointed out.

Blake was on her feat in an instant, hands balled into fists at her sides. "What would you like me to do, then!?" she roared, golden eyes flashing as all of the tension suddenly snapped. "Should I leave? Should I just walk out the door right now? Tell everyone that we're done? What is it that you _want_, Weiss?" A hot tear won the battle, sliding down her cheek.

"You already know the answer to that," Weiss said softly, flinching under Blake's words and curling her fingers over the edge of the bed, gathering the sheets into small mountains as she bunched them up beneath her hands.

"No," Blake shook her head. "No, I don't."

Weiss shot off the bed, colliding with Blake in midair as her arms moved to lock around her in a vice grip, holding her upright against the force that had nearly knocked her over. She connected their lips in a fierce kiss, pulling Blake against her. Blake returned the kiss with mounting urgency, pushing Weiss backwards she felt the bed meet the back of her knees. Weiss accepted the fall with grace, gripping Blake tightly and bringing her down, lips never parting until the moment that Blake's body pressed firmly against hers. She threw her head back in a rough moan at the contact. "You. I want _you_," she breathed raggedly. "I want you safe, and alive, and happy."

Golden eyes stared down at her through a curtain of black hair. "Then have a little faith in me."

"I do," Weiss whispered back. "Just…being with me isn't safe."

"Yes. Because I came to Beacon Academy looking for safety," Blake deadpanned.

"Exactly!" she retorted, clinging to Blake tighter. "Your life is dangerous enough."

For a long moment, Blake was very still, watching Weiss with a measured gaze. Her eyes moved just slightly, and Weiss had the eerie feeling as though she were counting numbers in her head. It was a familiar look – one she had been accustomed to receiving for most of first year. As if Blake was measuring the distance between them. "Weiss, I will never stop helping people. I will never stop risking my life," she finally said. "I need you to know that. And…" she drew in a shuddering breath, ears lowering, "…I don't think I'm going to stop loving you, either."

Weiss lifted her fingers to Blake's face. "I know," she said with a small smile. "And I'm not going to stop loving you. But…this could get complicated."

"Complicated," Blake echoed with a dry stare. "Because it's been so simple up until this point."

She was met with a weak, half-hearted slap. "I'm serious! And…oh _dust_, what if I actually inherit the company?"

"Yes, and?"

It dawned on her then. "I would be the head of SDC!"

"…I think that's what 'inheriting the company' probably means, yes."

Weiss blinked. "Blake, I have no idea how to run a company."

Blake chuckled softly, falling gently on top of her before rolling off and onto her side. "Is that seriously what you're worrying about?"

Weiss smacked her again with renewed vigor. "I'm worried about at least twelve things, actually. And it's a valid concern!" she defended.

"If that's what you want to do, it's not too late to learn, I'm sure," said Blake, eyes quickly growing serious. "The world could use more people like you in business, honestly."

She was met with a long, measured stare. "I could fix it," Weiss whispered after a moment. "I could get the undocumented faunus workers out of the mines, close the wage gap, tighten the safety regulations…couldn't I?"

"I think you could probably do whatever you wanted with the highest grossing corporation in Remnant," Blake said with a snort.

Weiss broke her gaze, turning to face the wall. She let out a heavy sigh. "I convinced myself I didn't want it," she finally admitted. "That fighting was a more noble opportunity, anyway. That I could win the most honor for myself and my family through combat," she chuckled without humor, "and now I don't know if I only said that because I've never been offered the chance to be anything else before."

A gentle nudge brought her eyes back to Blake's. "I think you could do whatever you put your mind to, honestly."

She smiled at the compliment, reaching up a hand to stroke at Blake's ears, which wiggled for just a moment after she touched them. "You're right," she finally conceded, "it's a silly thing to worry about right now."

"It's not," Blake conceded, black ears twitching, "but there will be time."

"I believe you," Weiss confessed.

Blake placed her hands on either side of Weiss, lifting herself back up off the bed. "Good. And you'll stop worrying?"

"Let's not get ahead of ourselves, now." She didn't cave under the answering glare. "I'll always worry."

"Of course you will. You're Weiss Schnee," Blake snorted. "Is there anything I can do to at least prolong the inevitable?"

The question caught her off guard, but she took a moment to genuinely think about it. "I want to forget my name for just one night."

The request brought tilted ears up straight. "Interesting. What should I call you, then?"

"Just Weiss," she answered after a moment of serious consideration. "None of this 'Miss Schnee' nonsense."

The grin that spread over Blake's face sent a rush of heat to her core. "I think I can manage that," she replied, leaning forward and capturing Weiss's lips.

Weiss melted into the kiss, hands traveling over every inch of Blake she could reach, suddenly desperate for the feeling of warm skin against her. Blake got the message, fingers easing away the fruitless tugs of Weiss's grip as she sat back on her knees, straddling Weiss's hips as she reached to remove her vest herself. The moment an expanse of soft skin was revealed to her, Weiss's hands were back, splaying across Blake's tight stomach and running along her spine. Blake shivered at the cold touches, but welcomed them, arching her back and offering a very lovely view of her breasts that was only concealed by a simple black bra.

When she sat up to deal with the offending garment, Blake moved quicker, hand reaching behind Weiss and closing around the zipper of her dress. She paused, ears cocked in a wordless question. Weiss answered her by closing the distance with another kiss as the zipper traveled south. Blake eased the dress down her body, exposing a lacy blue bra to the air. Weiss lifted her hips helpfully and kicked off her boots before shimmying out of the dress and tossing her jacket aside. She felt the gentle scrape of teeth against her throat, and she gasped softly in surprise, tilting her head to allow Blake better access. Her hands wandered in tandem up the slope of her back, pausing only to unhook the bra before digging her nails into Blake's smooth skin and relishing the strangled growl that sounded against her neck as her hips were pressed more roughly into the bed.

Weiss raised thin, red lines all along the surface of her skin and ripped her neck away from Blake's jaws. When golden eyes met hers with confusion, she started moving her lips against Blake's neck, trailing a series of kisses before the need to mark her took hold. She sank her teeth into the soft skin, earning another sharp cry. Her hands found their way to Blake's ass, cupping it gently before she slid her fingers beneath her shorts and underwear and tugged them down.

Blake squirmed, pulling away for just a moment to kick them the rest of the way off before her gaze reconnected with Weiss directly below her.

Weiss's breath caught in her throat for just a moment. "You're so beautiful," she whispered, eyes tracing the squares of moonlight filtering in from the window and lighting up the peak of Blake's collarbone. They shifted as she moved through the shaft of light, and Weiss relished the unobstructed view of her toned muscles moving fluidly as she reached behind Weiss. She heard a snap, felt her bra fall limp around her, allowed Blake to pull it off her shoulders and toss it aside.

"That means a lot, coming from you," said Blake, placing a hand on Weiss's shoulder and pushing her to the bed to lay out beside her. Weiss followed the movement of her hand as she dipped beneath the waistband of her underwear, the last scrap of clothing between them.

"You're cold," said Blake as she pulled the underwear down her legs and elicited a gentle shiver.

"Sorry," murmured Weiss, closing her eyes and repressing her Semblance.

Blake delicately placed her hands on Weiss's chest, "It's alright, just means I have to warm you up."

"Oh, is that what it means?" Weiss asked cheekily, cocking a brow at the statement.

"Yes, definitely," Blake replied without missing a beat, nodding her head and flicking her ears.

Weiss squirmed out from under her, quickly flipping her over and straddling her waist. "Are you so sure about that?"

Blake only watched in amusement, stretching out and unleashing a loud yawn that quickly turned into a moan as Weiss lowered her body down on top of her. "I need you tonight," she whispered when her lips met Blake's ear. Her tone elicited a gentle shiver, and her hands began wandering aimlessly across Blake's chest.

"All yours," another moan sounded when her fingers closed around a hardened nipple, and Blake jumped slightly at the touch, fingers twisting into Weiss's hair and bringing her in for another kiss. It started long and slow, deepening when one of Weiss's hands began to travel lower, brushing against smooth skin on her journey to black curls.

"Wow," Weiss whispered as she ran a finger along the length of Blake's entrance. "You _are _warm."

She was answered only with a distinctive purr that grew steadily louder as she began to tease her, fingers sliding over slick skin before the first found its way inside and enveloped in Blake's heat. Weiss moved to kiss her neck while she explored, quickly adding a second finger when Blake's legs spread further instinctively. She set a slow rhythm, at first, curling her fingers every so often to feel the satisfying clench of wet muscles around her fingers and hands around her shoulders. She relished the ragged breathing at her ear, losing herself to everything but the warmth of Blake's touch, the way she whimpered her name softly every time Weiss hit a particularly sensitive spot.

When Weiss felt her easing open, she slipped in a third finger, moving a little faster. Her thumb traveled to Blake's hardened clit, drawing simple patterns against the pulsing red skin. Blake began to lose whatever was left of her composure, hips bucking furiously in time with Weiss's thrusts, driving her fingers farther inside. Just as Weiss began to feel her tightening, she bit down into her neck, and the purring spiked in volume before morphing into a loud cry as she went completely stiff.

"There, you've warmed me up," Weiss teased softly as she slowed her movements, fingers still buried inside Blake as she looked up at her with a smirk.

Blake mumbled incoherently, glaring down at her with a flushed face. Slowly, she trailed a hand up Weiss's thigh. "Just about," she teased back.


	6. Chapter 6

Over the next few days, Weiss came to learn that sleep was a luxury granted only to those who were certain that the shadows in their room weren't covering for assassins. No matter how sure Blake was that no harm would befall her, Weiss could think only of her father's words when the lights in the room turned off.

_I could hire the best assassins in Remnant to make her disappear._

She could tell that, despite her bravado, Blake was struggling with sleep as well. Hours after climbing into bed, she would lie perfectly still, breathing just a little too quickly for semiconscious. Still, she would fade before Weiss, face slackening into a peaceful expression. Weiss would watch her with heavy eyelids, fingers playing through her hair, eyes scanning the gloom for the attack that never came.

Four nights after Weiss's conversation with her father, a violent thunderstorm broke, powerful enough to plunge the entire school into darkness right after dinner. A loud crack of thunder broke in the sky right above, echoing through the dining hall just as it turned blacker than midnight. It was enough to send Weiss jumping a mile, knee painfully banging against the table.

"Weiss!"

She heard Blake's voice, saw a pair of bright golden orbs staring at her from the black. Hands were on her, lifting her up from the ground. Concerned voices, groans, and shouts of "oh, COME ON!" rang out all around the crowded hall.

"_Everyone to your rooms, we'll have the power back on as soon as we can_," the voice of Glynda Goodwitch came floating in above the racket.

"Blake, Weiss, are you okay?" Ruby's voice reached them.

"I'm fine," Weiss called back, fingers clutching at Blake's shirt, giving her nervousness away.

Warm breath caressed her ear a moment later. "It's going to be alright."

"I can't see anything," Weiss whispered back. It wasn't exactly true. She could see shadowed figures among the crowds, gleams in the darkness that could easily be knife blades aiming for the girl she was clinging to.

"Hold onto me," came the voice, fingers wrapped around Weiss's wrists as Blake led them through the shadows and around the crowd.

The hallways were a little brighter, just light enough to make out the silhouettes of Yang and Ruby, who joined up with them. A fully-armed team JNPR followed them closer than usual on the walk through the corridors.

"I think we can guarantee a full watch tonight," Ren was whispering in hushed tones to Ruby.

Beside him, Jaune nodded, stepping up to her other side. "I'll have at least one person in the hall at all times until morning."

"I really don't think this is necessary," Blake cut in.

"None of us are willing to take that chance," Yang asserted. The air around her burned brighter still, a soft glow in the darkness.

Weiss was taken aback by the commitment of the team, but could only manage a small "thank you" to Pyrrha, who walked as close as she could without being obtrusive.

"Of course," she replied with a warm smile.

By the time they reached their room, the thunder had grown louder. A particularly large rumble sent a rough shiver down Blake's body, which Weiss felt against her back. She reached for her hand in the darkness.

Yang lit a few candles and spread them around the room while the others changed into pajamas. Weiss watched the torrents of water beat against the glass of the window. She checked that it was locked, then checked again for good measure. Blake eventually led her away and onto the bed. The team sat up for as long as they could, telling stories and waiting for the storm to end and the lights to come back on, but as the clocks on their scrolls pushed into the early hours of the morning, neither had been accomplished.

Finally, they turned in. A trip to the bathroom sent Weiss past Nora, who sat humming to herself in the hallway, polishing Magnhild with a small cloth and looking as if she had just inhaled three cups of coffee.

"I can't thank you enough for this," Weiss said sleepily, but she waved her off immediately.

"Like I can sleep anyway. I could stay up all night listening to this," she said with a wide grin.

In the bathroom, she approached one of the sinks before a stall door opened. Yang stepped out, red eyes bright enough to call Weiss's attention as she saw them gleaming in the mirror.

"Is…everything okay?" she asked as the blonde took the sink next to her, blinking quickly a few times before her irises turned again, caught somewhere between crimson and lilac.

"I haven't slept very well."

"I don't think anyone has," Weiss observed. "I'm…sorry."

Yang stilled, holding her hands under the stream of water. "Why?"

"For keeping everyone awake," she offered weakly before trying again, "for being a threat to Blake's life in the first place."

Yang still did not move. "That's what you're sorry about?" Her eyes darkened by a slight degree. "You're not looking at this with your head screwed on, ice queen."

Weiss met her heavy gaze in the mirror and her heart skipped a beat. "What do you mean?"

Yang twisted the dial off. "I am fully committed to keeping every member of this team alive. Ruby knows this 'cause she's my sister, Blake knows it 'cause she's my partner. Maybe you didn't get the memo."

"You think my involvement with Blake is too dangerous," Weiss filled in.

She was met with a glare even brighter than the first. "What did I _just say_?" she asked, her patience slipping. "Keeping you alive. That includes keeping the two of you together and safe."

Weiss faltered. "I don't understand…"

Yang turned away from the sink, angling her body towards Weiss, who slowly turned from the mirror to face her. "Your first instinct was to run away from Beacon and split this team in half."

"I thought that –"

"No, you didn't think at all. You thought you could take Blake and hide her…where? How? From what?" Weiss cringed at the words, but she kept going. "She's my _partner_, Weiss. And you're Ruby's. And when something this big comes up, you come to your teammates."

"I will," she promised quickly. "And I am sorry for that, too. I got scared, Yang. My father…" she faltered again under the blonde's eyes.

"You're going to have to face him someday," she reminded, stepping around a stunned Weiss and squeezing her shoulder on the way out.

Weiss watched her tired reflection for a moment before washing her face and stepping out of the bathroom, nearly running into Ruby in the process.

"Ah! Sorry," her partner apologized, holding up her hands and leaning against the wall. "I was coming to check on you. Yang looked…" she caught sight of Weiss's face and stopped. "Yeah, I guess you spoke."

Weiss hadn't even been aware of the tears until she drew attention to them. "I'm fine," she insisted. "Everything she said was true."

Ruby pulled her into a comforting hug. "We care about you two a lot," she said. "But you already know that."

"I do, and I appreciate it."

"I have to ask this," she prefaced, and Weiss stiffened in her grip before pulling away. "What are you planning on doing once we leave Beacon?"

It was the only question she'd been asking herself, as well as the last one she wanted to hear. "I'm not…I don't know, Ruby."

"I know what the chance to run your family's company must mean to you. I'm going outside the kingdoms to track Grimm," she said with a finality that startled Weiss.

"You already know?"

Ruby's smile told her that the girl had known for a long time. "Following my mother's footsteps. Yang's coming with me, at least to start. Both of you…you're more than welcome to come."

For a moment, Weiss imagined the four of them, together and traveling outside the kingdoms. The image came more easily than one of her surrounded by men in suits at a board meeting. "Thank you, Ruby," she said with a warm smile. "I can't promise anything, but…"

"I know," Ruby interjected. "Just think about it."

When Weiss climbed into Blake's bed, she wrapped her arms wordlessly around her girlfriend. She stole her warmth while gently running her fingers through long black hair, avoiding the ears that were pressed flat against her head to keep out the sounds of the tempest outside. Gentle trembling eased to stillness, and finally to long, even breaths against Weiss's chest.

Weiss did not close her eyes once, crystal blue peering into every shadowed corner of the room, flinching with every lightening strike but trying to keep as still as possible for the girl pressed against her. After hours had passed and the rumbles in the sky had only just begun to fade, Blake shifted, arms suddenly struggling against her hold.

"No," she mumbled, breaking out into a thin sheen of sweet as she squeezed her eyes shut tighter. "No…_stay away_!"

Weiss pulled away for a moment, allowing her to move her arm as she carefully reached through thick black hair and found the skin at the nape of Blake's neck.

"It's alright," she shushed, fingers moving to caress and rub the skin. "It's a dream. You're okay."

Slowly, the tension in Blake's muscles eased, arms stilling as she clutched them closer to her chest, the rest of her body falling limp under the touch. A slow sigh escaped her parted lips, and she lay perfectly still until Weiss removed her hand. She nuzzled back into the crook of Weiss's arm.

Weiss stared at her for a long time, watching the expressions on her face until her eyelids became too heavy and she faded into a deep sleep.

* * *

><p>"I'm here to see Winter Schnee."<p>

The receptionist looked up from her desk, blinking behind wide-rimmed glasses. She took a few seconds to examine the girl in front of her. "You're her sister, aren't you? Weiss Schnee."

Weiss frowned, feeling uncomfortable with the way the woman was staring at her. She took a single, deep breath, wrinkling her nose against the oppressive smell of sterility. "Yes, I am."

"Do you have a permit for that weapon?" she asked, motioning to Myrtenaster, which hung in its typical place at her hip.

Weiss nodded, producing a card with the sword's image and description. "I'm a third-year student at Beacon Academy," she explained. "I always carry it with me when I travel. I would prefer not to part with it, if possible."

"That's no trouble, you'll just need to be escorted by a guard." The receptionist took the card, straightening up and adjusting her glasses as her fingers clacked across the keyboard in front of her. "I was beginning to wonder where the rest of the family was. She's been admitted for three weeks, and you're only her second visitor…well, apart from the reporters, but they've finally stopped coming around."

"How is she?" Weiss asked, swallowing past the lump in her throat.

"She manages to stay awake for most of the day, which is a big improvement from last week." Her eyes scanned the screen in front of her for a moment. "She's eating on her own again, but she's lost quite a bit of weight. You might not recognize her."

Weiss almost mentioned that she was quite sure that she wouldn't, considering that she hadn't seen her twin in three years, but she stopped herself. She nodded when she a large, uniformed guard stepped forward and led her through the doors labeled _Atlas General Hospital_. He brought her to her sister's door, explaining that she could go in alone, but that he was required to stand right outside. Weiss nodded in acknowledgement, stealing herself for just a moment before turning the knob and stepping inside.

The receptionist had been right. The cascade of perfect white hair that Weiss remembered had been cut, a few tufts sticking out at odd angles beneath the bandages that encircled her head. Her face was sunken and gaunt, dark circles very prominent beneath cerulean eyes, standing out against skin that was even paler than Weiss's. There was no resemblance at all to the girl who had been raised as her older sister despite the mere seven minutes that separated their births. She was tiny, a thin husk nearly buried beneath the pillows and blankets and tubes that surrounded her.

"Wow. You actually came to see me," she whispered, voice strained and hoarse.

"Of course I did. You're my sister." The words held the barest touch of concern and sympathy.

Tired eyes fell to the weapon at Weiss's hip. "You brought that? Into a hospital?"

"I'm a huntress in training. I don't go anywhere without Myrtenaster."

Winter chuckled without the humor. The noise reminded Weiss of a dying frog. "Of course you don't," she said, turning towards the window and frowning deeply. "Congratulations on your new inheritance," she said bitterly. "That is the one time you'll hear me actually say it, so savor it while you can."

Weiss took a few steps closer until she was standing by the bedside. "Thank you," she said, not savoring it at all, "but this isn't how I wanted to receive it. I'm sorry that this happened to you."

"I don't need your pity!" she snapped, turning away from the window to glare up at her twin. "I don't need you to feel _sorry_ for me! Especially not when I have father telling me that it's all my _fucking fault!_" she roared, her small body trembling from the effort it took to yell. "Let's see how _you_ enjoy being his little angel. It's really not all it's cracked up to be."

Weiss had to wrestle with the urge to turn around and run out of the room. "I'm not his little angel."

"Like hell you're not."

"He came to Vale two weeks ago just to tell me how much of a disappointment I was." Weiss hadn't planned on admitting this fact, but seeing her sister look like a ghost of herself, cut off completely from the man who was at the very least still pretending to care about her, she realized that it no longer mattered what her sister knew.

Winter raised a questioning eyebrow, curious, despite herself. "That's impressive, even for you. What did you do?"

"I fell in love with a faunus."

A second eyebrow joined the first. "Oh my god." She paused, as if waiting for Weiss to take it back. "You're…you're not serious."

"I am."

Winter took a long, slow blink, still stunned. "What's his name?"

"Her name is Blake," Weiss replied with a smirk.

"_Holy shit_," she gasped, and the beeping monitor beside her suddenly spiked. "Oh my _god_. I bet he had a heart attack."

The smirk faded as she recalled the feeling of his hand striking her face. "He wasn't pleased."

"Does she have horns? A tail?" Winter asked with a devilish grin.

Weiss winced at the questions, biting back the sharp retort on her tongue and reminding herself that her sister was lying broken on a hospital bed. "She has two arms, two legs, and a head," she replied shortly. "She has a strong sense of justice, a fierce devotion to her friends, and a commitment to fighting corruption in the world."

Winter scoffed, rolling her eyes. "She sounds like a barrel of fun," she muttered. "You know what I was really asking."

"Why does it matter?" she asked through clenched teeth.

"Because unless you tell me otherwise, I'm gonna picture her with huge walrus tusks coming out of her mouth."

"Oh _dust_, Winter, how _old_ are you?" Weiss groaned in exasperation. "Are we really doing this?"

"Just _tell_ me!"

"You're completely impossible," she complained, even as she reached for her scroll and quickly flipped to a picture of herself sitting next to a smiling Blake on her bed while Weiss glared at the photographer – a version of Ruby that was often too chipper in the mornings, she recalled. Winter leaned a bit closer when she held it out, examining it for several seconds before weak laughter filtered through the room. "You did always want a cat."

Weiss put her scroll away and took a deep breath. "She's not a cat, she's a person. And I don't want to have this conversation."

A pair of thin arms crossed in front of Winter's chest. "You're the one who brought it up," she pointed out.

"And now I'm un-bringing it up," said Weiss with finality. "Tell me about you. How are you doing here?"

The look of amusement was gone in an instant, as if a switch had been flipped. "How do you _think_ I'm doing here? The food is disgusting, my entire body hurts constantly, and they have to limit my pain medication. And when I get out, there's a decent chance that I'm going to jail, so, I'm pretty sure I'd rather be in hell."

Weiss hesitated for a moment before finally asking. "Are you going to tell me how you got here?"

Winter sighed heavily. "What did he tell you?"

"Drugs, joyriding, crashing into a statue of Ironwood," she summarized.

"That's about right," she confirmed. "That statue actually looks better now, if you ask me."

"Funnily enough, I actually believe you."

Winter laughed again, a little more robustly than before. When the sound trailed off, her face grew serious again, and she seemed to take a moment to think before turning her gaze back up to her sister. "To be honest, I'm almost relieved that I won't have to take over the company," she admitted. "I spent hours locked in my room studying for the first two years, even though I realized after first semester that I didn't actually want to devote my life to stocks. I struggled for a decent ranking, and father still wasn't satisfied, because I wasn't at the top. So…I didn't answer his calls. I made friends. I stopped handing in assignments. I woke up in a ditch miles away from campus with a needle in my arm and the previous week gone from my memory."

"Winter…"

"Don't fucking pity me, remember?" she snapped. "Pity yourself. If you think he's bad already, wait until you see how he gets when you're poised to take over his life's work. Get one thing through your head right now: SDC is his real child, not us. You and your faunus lover don't stand a chance."

* * *

><p>Weeks passed. The fear of imminent threat gradually cooled when none of the people watching Blake had ever reported seeing anything out of the ordinary, then faded completely one night after Weiss received a call from her father in which he "ensured the utmost faith in her ability to make the correct decisions about her life."<p>

She had been calling Winter regularly, enough to know that he hadn't been, and had nearly thrown her scroll across the room.

The nightmares took a little longer to dispel for each of them, but Weiss did eventually stop obsessively scanning the corners of every room after a few months.

As graduation approached, the nervousness returned, stronger than ever.

"I don't know what my life is going to look like when I walk out of here," Weiss admitted one night, sitting out on a bench by the fountain and looking up at the stars.

"Do any of us, really?" Blake replied.

"I guess not," she sighed, leaning against her girlfriend's shoulder.

Blake was quiet for a long moment. "I think my mind was made up for me when reports of Grimm attacks from outside the kingdoms started doubling."

They shared a look, simultaneously thinking of Ruby and Yang. Touring out the kingdoms after graduation was a fairly common choice, once a requirement for all Beacon grads. This year, it seemed as though everyone was caught up with the idea, more and more of them pledging months, years, even lifetimes beyond the walls.

"Are you going to go with them?" Weiss asked softly, already knowing the answer.

"Yes."

She looked away from pensive golden eyes, staring back up into the stars. "All of JNPR are going, too. I heard Pyrrha announce it at lunch today."

Out of the corner of her eye, she could see Blake watching her carefully. "There's a lot of need."

"I know," said Weiss, "Which is why I don't think I can justify sitting in some classroom in Atlas while the rest of you are out risking your lives."

"No one would think less of you," Blake shifted, looking at Weiss pointedly until she turned back to meet her gaze, "Least of all me. I know you could do a lot of good there."

"Every time my father brings it up, he's just so _certain_. Like there isn't a single doubt in his mind that I won't be on the first train out of Vale the moment after I graduate," she huffed.

"What do you _want_ to do, Weiss?"

She fell silent, imagining a life in which she wouldn't need to wear Myrtenaster at her hip constantly. Her fingers twitched oddly at the idea and she stroked the revolving chamber. She thought of her father glaring down at her, and of Winter, who had only just barely managed to start moving around in a wheelchair.

"I want to go with you," she answered, the words slipping out without her permission.

Golden eyes seemed to shine a little brighter. "Are you sure?"

"No," she admitted. "I can't be sure of anything. I can't be sure that I won't have to return in a few months," she said as she leaned back into Blake's body. "And I _will_ have to come back eventually. But I've been training all my life for this, and I'm not ready to walk away yet."

Strong arms pulled her in and held her close.

When Arktis Schnee didn't appear at graduation, Weiss felt nothing but relief, despite being very aware of the stares that followed her and noted his absence. The few people who had been rude enough to ask had been met with icy smiles and an assurance that "business tends to keep him busy this time of year."

The actual reason, dictated in a voice message from him the night before, had something to do with the fact that he "couldn't see his daughter standing next to vermin."

Having Blake right next her for the entire ceremony turned out to be essential, and the two interlaced their fingers and stood together, unburdened by families. Weiss made no move to let go until her name was called to step forward and receive her Huntress certification.

The next morning, she was indeed on the first train out of Vale, but she sat between her teammates, Atlas nothing but a distant thought in her mind.

**A/N: **The remaining few parts will be along shortly. Stay tuned!


	7. Chapter 7

A/N: Graphic violence warning, from here on.

Apologies for taking longer than intended. To make up for it, have the longest chapter that I've posted thusfar.

Thank you so much to everyone who's reviewed and given me feedback and listened to me ramble. And to the-mighty-tor for their ridiculous knowledge of all things plantlike.

* * *

><p>For the next eight weeks, the Pine Spring Forest Lodge, located over 200 miles from Vale's southern city limits, would be team RWBY's home and base of operations. Ruby had taken the job eagerly, describing it to her teammates as "a fortress in the middle of Grimm-infested woods." She turned out to be half right. Grimm-infested the forest was; fortress the lodge was not.<p>

Weiss grimaced when she first laid eyes on the rickety staircase that towered fifty feet above the treeline, inspecting the deep claw marks gouged in the wood's surface on the way up. Their guide – Buck, a cheerful woodsman with a pair of big, branching antlers who had whistled a tune during the entire three-hour hike through the forest, much to Weiss's silent fury – seemed wholly unconcerned with the state of the place.

"Great seein' the lodge fulla huntsmen again," he said over his shoulder while leading them up, not even bothering to watch his footing despite the fact that he looked as though he weighed twice as much as any of the rest of them. Weiss stared at the enormous shotgun slung over his back as he walked in front of her, a piece of scrapmetal that looked like he had crafted it himself. She wondered idly how the thing even fired. "Hasn't been manned since last year, n' even then by only one guy."

"What happened to him?" Yang asked, maneuvering around a particularly suspect wooden step.

"Your guess's as good as mine. Sent a party outta look for his corpse, but they turned up empty." Weiss wasn't sure what was more disturbing – the fact that the previous keeper had disappeared without a trace, or the fact that Buck spoke about it with the same infernally cheerful tone. "High time we have another watch, 'specially with all the strange Grimm activity 'round here. C'mon, I'll give ya'll a tour and a run-down of the job."

The door's metal hinges screamed in protest as he hefted the door open, a task that seemed to require a bit of muscle. The last of the day's failing sunlight filtered in through the doorway, lighting up a brilliant flurry of dust motes stirred up by the sudden breeze. The four of them let out rough coughs as the Buck stepped into the dimly lit space, immediately moving to light the gas lantern that was sitting in the middle of the table. "No electricity out here, 'course. There're a few more lanterns 'round, though, n' the closet's fulla fuel boxes," he said, jerking his head towards a nearby door.

Blake approached the kitchen – or, what passed for a kitchen, examining the gas stove, dusty countertops, and a nearly-empty pantry.

"Sorry 'bout that," he said as he observed her scrutiny. "We gotta guy with an armored truck, he'd do the run no problem, but it's in the shop, so we hadta send a different one. Big mistake. Should have it up and runnin' tomorrow, though, so we'll have y'all stocked tomorrow night. There're a few cans to tide you over 'til then."

"Please, there's no need to take any unnecessary risks on our behalf," Ruby said quickly, "we're actually quite self-sufficient."

The woodsman smiled at her. Weiss was getting very tired of that look. "Maybe back in the kingdoms you were, miss, but Pine Spring won't be as kind to you."

"We can manage," Blake said with certainty, moving on to inspect the small pile of mattresses in the corner.

"Wait 'til you know what you're up against," he replied, reaching beneath the table and lifting up a crate full of maps that sent another wave of dust into the air as he set it down. He pulled the topmost map from the box and spread it out across the table, anchoring it with the lamp while the other four circled around to observe.

"We're right…here," he declared, pressing a finger to a small red 'X' that sat directly in the center of the map, surrounded on all sides by miles of green. "I'd love to show you where the Grimm most gather, but they've been mighty unpredictable the past few months."

"And that's where we come in," Ruby said with a determined nod of her head.

"Right you are. Now, the east n' south're what we most care 'bout," Weiss took note of the three dots that signified villages at the edges of the forest. That certainly didn't seem like a safe place to live, but she held her tongue. "Lotta the new Grimm're cropping up in the west, which don't really make much sense given there's a whole lotta nothin' out there," Buck commented, reaching into the crate for another map and unrolling it to the left of the first. This one was much sparser. "Funny thing is, we've run people 'cross the flats, lookin' for any sign, but they almost never see a single one. Never any weird ones, neither."

"Weird ones?" Blake echoed.

"Ever see a Grimm with nine legs?"

Ruby's eyes widened.

"Hacked one n' pieces just last week," Buck said proudly, pulling the gun from his back and flipping some unseen lever. An axe blade shot out from the side of the barrel.

Ruby's eyes looked like they were about to pop out of her head. "Cooool," she drawled.

Weiss gave up on discerning where exactly the blade had come from, so she pulled out another map. This one was only half filled, detailing the flats to the west of the second map Buck had produced, but the western half was entirely empty. "How many of these are incomplete?"

"The ones you need'll be mostly fine, might be a little old though. You don't hafta worry 'bout that one," he remarked when he saw what she was looking at. "That blank's restricted, armed guards n' everything. Some sorta weapons testing field. Might hear a big boom or two while you're here, but that's all. Like I said, ya'll should mostly stick to the trees. We got more Grimm'n anyone else around these days, and if ya'll think you gotta handle on some population control, there'd be a lotta folks'n these parts in your debt."

"That we can do," Yang said with confidence.

"Good to hear it." The axe blade side back into…wherever it had come from, and Buck shouldered the gun again. "If there're no questions, I'll leave ya'll to it. There's a radio in the closet, call on it if you're runnin' outta supplies or got somethin' you think we outta know 'bout. I'll call in now n' then, make sure you're not dead n' all. Good luck!" he said as he departed.

"Was it just me, or was he way too cheerful about all of this?" Weiss said once the whistling and creaking stairs had faded into the distance.

"You think everyone is too cheerful about everything," Yang reminded her with a grin.

Weiss answered her with a scowl. "I do not! Stop saying that!"

"I rest my case."

Blake caught Weiss's wrist before she could fire back some retort, and Weiss automatically relaxed in her grip. She turned to meet the pair of golden eyes that were looking at her searchingly.

"What?" she asked, suddenly self-conscious.

"Thank you," Blake said genuinely. "For coming out here," she added when Weiss responded by looking at her in confusion.

"I wanted to come," Weiss reminded her, tugging her wrist so that she could pull Blake's body to hers in a loose embrace. Her arms snaked around the taller girl's neck, fingers lacing together in her hair.

Her words brought a gentle smile to Blake's lips before she leaned in to press them to Weiss's forehead. "I know this isn't exactly what you're used to," she said, eyes flitting around the very dusty room.

It certainly wasn't much, but there was a roof over their heads and walls to keep the space relatively warm, which was more than she could have said about many of their past missions, even if none of them had been quite as long as this two-month contract. "I wasn't expecting a five-star hotel, you know."

Blake didn't need to clarify. There was no point in reminding the heiress that, had she bent to her father's wishes, she would have been surrounded by luxury that the three of them couldn't even begin to comprehend.

"I'm glad you came with us, Weiss," said Ruby, pausing in her quest to pull all the mattresses out from their pile. "This'll be a lot better with you here."

"Yeah, especially since Blake won't go into mega moody mode," added Yang, ducking when her partner pulled away from Weiss long enough to take a rolled-up map from the crate and hurl it at her head. "Hey, you know I'm right!" she yelled in her defense.

"Just testing your reflexes," Blake deadpanned, but Weiss could just make out a hint of the smile that she was trying to conceal.

"Don't need it," Yang fired back. "I can handle anything this old forest can throw at us, even if there really _are_ nine-legged Grimm," she said with determination, casting a glance out the window over the seemingly endless expanse of trees as dusk began to give way to night.

"Well, you won't have to tonight," Ruby announced. "Everyone take some time to settle in, and then we'll see about dinner. Rest up for now, and we'll get started in the morning."

* * *

><p><em>CRASH!<em>

"What the_ fuck_ – "

Darkness greeted Weiss as she shot up from the mattress as if she had been struck by a sudden bolt of lightning. The voice took a moment to register.

"Yang?" she called out, an edge of nervousness banishing the sleep that would have otherwise filled her tone.

The only answer was a loud clatter of something hitting the floor and a flash of golden orbs beside her, trained on some invisible point across the room.

"Blake –"

A warm hand encircled her wrist, eliciting the slightest instinctual flinch, but there was no mistaking the voice that whispered against her ear. "Someone's here."

Probably not a friendly visitor, if the frequent bangs and grunts were any indication. A loud squeak of metal scraping against metal preceded a sudden burst of light from the gas lamp in Ruby's hand. Weiss blinked rapidly a few times before turning her attention to the front door. What she saw made her gasp, the sheets on the bed quickly discarded as she and Blake shot to their feet.

The silhouette of the dark, hulking figure was quite formidable, even with thick, corded muscles wrapped around the intruder, struggling to keep his arms in place. Yang's face was bright red, mirroring her eyes as she fought to constrain the figure. From the corner of her gaze, Weiss saw the black barrel of Gambol Shroud slide into view, trained on the pair of them. Blake's finger hovered over the trigger as Weiss reached automatically for Myrtenaster at her bedside, thrusting the blade into the air between herself and the heated wrestling match. A short series of clicks announced Crescent Rose's arrival in its small gun form.

"_Stop!_" Ruby yelled, voice full of authority that was hardly befitting of someone her size.

To Weiss's surprise, the figure did stop, several deep, tense breaths filling the air as Yang struggled to force his arms fully behind his back. With a single, determined tug, the man brought his elbow back in a rough jab that connected with the underside of Yang's chin, sending her reeling back onto the floor_._ No time was allowed for her to compose herself as the man dove at her, locking a hand around her wrist and yanking her back into a standing position, holding her close as a human shield against the three weapons that were itching for a clear shot. His fist slammed into her stomach as he forced her to turn her around, free hand digging into her thick blonde hair.

Three things happened at once. The temperature in the room rocketed upwards, increasing by ten degrees in a mere instant. Yang's eyes erupted, now a shade of red fit to rival the trickles of blood that dripped from her jaw as the man gave a sharp tug of her long locks. And all three of her armed teammates immediately stumbled backwards, putting as much distance as they could between themselves and the look of pure rage carved onto the brawler's face.

Yang wrenched herself in his grip, breaking free even as her hands came to close around his throat, fingers digging into flesh while the intruder choked and sputtered until there was no more air to do either. An effortless toss was all it took to send the big man flying across the room. Weiss winced at the sound of impact as his body slammed into the metal door with enough force to shake the entire lodge. Yang rushed him before he could get up, bashing his head against the floor in the process. She sat on his chest to keep him pinned, ripping off his black mask with one hand while her other squeezed into a fist and became well acquainted with his face.

Crunch. _Crunch. CRUNCH._

Weiss heard bone shattering even over the sounds of Yang's furious bellows, glimpsed the puddle of red that was forming on the floor around them, the spray that was flying up to hit the brawler in the face as the floor shook with each punch.

"_Yang!_"

Ruby recovered first, dropping Crescent Rose onto her bed and dashing to her sister in a blur of rose petals that scattered across the blood-spattered wood. She closed a small hand around Yang's wrist as it came up to deliver another blow, falling to her knees into the pool of blood beneath them. "Yang, calm down, he's had enough!"

It was certainly true. The brief flash of the man's face that Weiss had seen before Yang had used him as a punching bag hadn't stirred any feelings of familiarity, but now he barely looked human. His nose was bent at an angle that looked sickeningly impossible, eyes closed to keep out the rivers of blood that criss-crossed his face. Split lips opened to let out a small red geyser, most of which dribbled back down his chin as he struggled to catch his breath with Yang's weight still firmly pressing down on his chest.

Yang's eyes narrowed as her own chest heaved, gulping in huge breaths as she held her trembling fist in the air, making no move to throw off Ruby's hold as she slowly returned to herself. Crimson eyes began to fade back to lilac, but they never strayed from their target. "Restrain him."

Blake was already moving forward with a coil of rope as Weiss's eyes caught sight of a gleam of metal on the floor nearby. She lowered her blade, kneeling down while carefully avoiding the blood to reach for the object and hold it up to the light.

It was a slim revolver with a bladed barrel and a dust chamber similar to that of Myrtenaster's. In fact, it almost looked as though it had been manufactured by the same hand that had produced her own weapon. The thought made her frown – the distinctive style was one she so rarely came across, from a line of very limited, high-end SDC weapons. To vanquish any lingering doubt, her seeking fingers brushed against a very familiar etching of a twelve-pointed snowflake on the bottom of the grip.

That was when she realized what she was looking at.

"Blake, _get away from him_!" she yelled urgently, unable to keep the shrill quiver of panic from her voice and surging forward to yank the rope from her girlfriend's hands.

"What are you doing?" Blake growled, ears flattening against her head, a flicker of annoyance passing across her face.

"I'll do it," she insisted, stepping around the faunus and kneeling beside Ruby, who was exchanging confused glances with Blake. "Ease up," she snapped to Yang, but the blonde made no move to get off the man's chest.

"Uh, Weiss…" Ruby said gently, reaching forward and carefully pulling the rope from her partner's trembling hands, "how about you let me do that?"

Weiss blinked, registering that the rope was no longer in her grip after a moment. She looked down at the man, taking in the few details she could discern. Blue-grey eyes followed her observation of ghostly pale skin littered with bruises that were already forming, though his pallor probably wasn't helped by the significant blood loss he was experiencing. His recently-shaved head allowed for a clear view of the gash Yang had opened on his crown, and a quick glance at the floor revealed a loose nail from one of the floorboards that had been disturbed by the pummeling as the likely culprit. Despite looking as if he had just crawled through hell, his expression betrayed no pain or discomfort, his scattered gasps the only acknowledgement of the vicious beating he had just taken.

He wasn't the only one staring directly at Weiss. "You know this asshole?" Yang asked, lifting one hand to her own face and scowling at it when it came back red. Her eyes had almost returned to their normal shade of lilac, but the tension was still evident in her body, and she had made only the slightest adjustments to allow the man below her to breathe.

"What happened?" she questioned instead of answering.

"I got up to pee," Yang explained, "and when I opened the door, this fucker shoved a gun at me and went to cover my mouth. Made the mistake of kneeing me in the gut and hitting me against a wall a few times. Thanks for that, by the way," she remarked to the man beneath her, managing a small smirk as she wiped the blood from her chin. "I managed to knock the gun from his hand before Ruby got the light on."

Weiss's brow furrowed as she looked up from the floor, eyes trained on the revolver that she didn't remember dropping. She opened her mouth to speak, pausing for a moment before forcing the words out. "That's one of my father's gunblades."

Blake's ears shot straight up. She walked over to the discarded weapon and picked it up, exploring it with curious hands. Weiss didn't miss the discreet glances she shot towards Myrtenaster in her examination.

"It was kept in a glass case, in his study."

"That _exact_ gun?" said Ruby.

Weiss nodded as Blake turned the revolver over to reveal the Schnee snowflake etched into the handle.

"There were two of them," she reported, recalling the layout of his study as if she had been standing in it just yesterday. A small handful of weapons had littered the room as display objects - fully functional, yet most had never known the heat of battle, let alone taken a life. Not until Myrtenaster had been removed with strong, reverent hands from its place of honor on the highest shelf above his desk had she ever seen one leave its case. He had given her a stern look when she had asked if he had ever used any of them himself.

_The weapons that I use are not made of steel, Weiss. You would do well to remember that,_ he had explained sternly. She had almost left Myrtenaster in his study that day. "I'm positive."

Blake did not meet her gaze.

Yang's eyes flashed back to red as she regarded the man beneath her. "Alright, you've got some explaining to do."

"Let me tie him," Ruby said to her sister, "he can barely breathe."

"I don't give a shit about whether he can breathe!"

"You need to breathe to answer questions," she pointed out, reaching for the arms that were twisted behind his back as Yang reluctantly moved off of him while muttering angrily to herself.

Weiss tuned them out, focusing instead on Blake, who was running her hands over the gun with a deep frown in place. She unloaded it carefully, releasing the brightly-colored dust vials one by one into her hand and inspecting each before setting them down on the table in front of her. Weiss wanted to stand up from the floor, to move away from the growing puddle of crimson that was staining her knees and nightgown, but she couldn't bring herself to move, eyes trained on the gunblade in Blake's hand with a rising sense of dread.

"Weiss?"

Ruby's voice cut through the haze that had settled over her brain, and she jumped, turning back to her leader with wide eyes.

"I asked if you recognized him," she said gently, resting one hand on her partner's shoulder.

"No," she whispered, shaking her head slightly.

"Well, let's get this thing started," Yang interjected, grabbing the man by the collar and yanking him up roughly before shoving him into a chair. He went limp in her grip, making no motion to indicate that he had even registered the sudden movement. His breathing was almost even now, and the blood that covered his face had reached the black clothing that clung to his thick muscles. Blue-grey eyes stared unfocused at a point on the floor, split lips sealed save for the occasional light gasp.

"What the hell were you doing in our bathroom at three in the fucking morning?"

Blake paused in her examination, lowering the empty gunblade to the table and turning to her partner with an unreadable expression. Silence reigned for several tense seconds.

"You want me to hit you again?"

"Stop."

Three pairs of eyes turned to look at Blake.

"He isn't going to say anything."

"What makes you so sure?"

The faunus stepped closer to him, causing Weiss to tense involuntarily, but she said nothing as her girlfriend stepped into his space and took a deep sniff. He did not react at all to her proximity.

"Because he's going to die."

Before anyone could react to the news, they all jumped at the sound of something clattering to the floor beneath the man's chair as he gave a single, violent jerk.

"What do you mean he's going to die?" Ruby asked with wide-eyed horror, turning to Yang, whose eyes immediately faded back to lilac as the color drained from her face. "Yang, _what did you do?_"

Slowly, Weiss bent down to retrieve the small object.

"Whoa, geez!" yelled the brawler, holding up her hands defensively, "I didn't hit him _that_ hard! And just look at him, he's huge!"

Weiss held the object up in the light, revealing a slim steel syringe.

"Yang didn't kill him," said Blake, eyes locked onto the syringe in Weiss's hand. "He's just given himself a lethal dose of atropine. Or, as it's more commonly known, belladonna nightshade."

The only response was another rough shudder and a sharp inhale from the bound man.

"There's little point in asking him anything, he'll likely be delusional in moments," she continued. Yang and Ruby were exchanging wide-eyed looks as Weiss watched the dying man stare at nothing.

"Why would he…" Ruby gasped, brow furrowing before something dawned on her. She disappeared in a flurry of rose petals and began barricading the windows at lightning-speed.

"Uh, sis?"

"It's a distraction," she offered as she stacked crates in front of the kitchen window. "He's not alone."

"A distinct possibility," Blake agreed, tilting her head to the side as she studied the man's movements. "I'd advise that someone guard the door."

"On it," Yang said with a nod, pulling Ember Celica down from the shelf where she'd left the pair of bright yellow gauntlets and clicking them into place.

"Can you save him?" Ruby called over her shoulder as she worked, a hint of concern in her tone.

"No," Blake answered simply, leaning forward and resting her elbows on her knees, "he's made his choice. That shot was intended for his target, but he likely hid it up his sleeve. Somewhere he'd easily be able to use it on himself."

"Failure to eliminate Blake wouldn't make my father very happy," remarked Weiss, breaking out of her trance.

Blake looked at her for the first time, her expression softening just slightly.

"Hang on, we can't be sure that –"

"We all know it, Ruby," Weiss snapped. "Pretending doesn't help us now."

"We're top-notch Beacon grads," Yang pointed out, eyes scanning the small window in the reinforced metal door. "Scary Schnee knows that. Why the hell would he send one doofus after the four of us?"

_I could hire the best assassins in Remnant to make her disappear, _he had said. Yet he had sent a single man with one of his rare weapons and a syringe of poison, who had been singlehandedly subdued by her teammate's impeccable bladder timing.

"Because there's more than one doofus out there," said Ruby, extending Crescent Rose and aiming it between a thin space in the crates she had stacked, pressing her eye to the scope.

Blake added nothing to the speculation, watching Weiss carefully as she observed the dying man's face. Just below the film of blood that covered him, she could make out a scar that cut vertically through his left eye. The four walls of the room faded away as a memory overtook her.

* * *

><p>The pain in her left eye was the only thing in the world that Weiss could focus on.<p>

She had pictured this moment since the day she had first held Myrtenaster in her hand – the moment that she passed father's final test and proved once and for all that she had what it took to become a huntress. But instead of the arena filled with Grimm that he had promised her, she had instead faced a single enemy alone.

Her initial reaction, upon seeing the Giant Armor heft its enormous sword onto its shoulder as it turned to face her, had not been fear, but rage. A dozen adversaries had been promised to her, but he had seen fit to only present her with one. (Nevermind that it was the size of a building and probably outweighed her two hundred fold.)

Clutching her eye with a shaking hand that quickly allowed blood from the wound to seep through her fingers, she almost swore at herself. Of course it wouldn't have been that easy. She had miscalculated the speed of her opponent – he was a metal colossus, for crying out loud! – and allowed a hit that _burned._

Her good eye found father staring down at her from his usual position behind sheets of bulletproof glass. There, too, the image in her mind had been wrong. Instead of the gentle nod of approval she had dreamed of receiving, he looked as though he were watching a particularly boring sporting event. Beside him, Winter's gaze zeroed in on her twin's left eye. The smirk that flitted across her features was almost unnoticeable, but Weiss saw it. The only concerned face was that of the medic on hand – who, for some reason, was speaking animatedly to her father instead of running down to help her.

The wound wasn't healing. She concentrated on activating her aura, but the thrum of energy coursing through her veins had absolutely no effect on the amount of blood pouring from the gash. There was only one possible explanation for her aura's ineffectiveness, but her brain stalled on the answer. Had her father really constructed an entire Giant Armor out of seersteel? The dust-infused metal was known for its aura-blocking properties and highly illegal, but if any man could acquire enough of the material to construct an enormous automaton, it would be Arktis Schnee. But to put it in an arena against his daughter with no forewarning?

Weiss clenched her fingers around Myrtenaster's hilt to stop the blade from trembling as she stormed out, throwing open the double doors and closing her left eye against the white-washed walls that gleamed brightly enough to contribute to her pounding headache. She was hoping to make it past the metal door that led up to the observation platform. No such luck. She kept walking when she heard it scrape open.

"Weiss."

It wouldn't be wise to ignore him, especially not now.

"Turn around."

She obeyed, slowly, keeping her head up and pretending not to notice that the blood was staining her bolero.

"You did well."

How many times had she driven herself to exhaustion for the sole purpose of hearing him say that? Yet not once in her life had he ever praised her for a mistake. Those three words spoke volumes about his expectations.

"You didn't think I'd make it out, did you?" the question fell from her lips before she could stop it. She hated the quiver in her voice when she asked it, wishing she had the guts to accuse him properly, but the hand that clutched Myrtenaster was still shaking.

"I expected more than a single scratch, if that is what you're asking."

She would hardly consider the wound a mere scratch. Already it seemed to bleeding more than it had been before, and she didn't dare open her eyelids and risk the torrent of red. "I need a medic." She stated it firmly rather than asking, unwilling to show weakness in the face of the burning pain.

"You're fine." It was spoken like a dismissal, as if he couldn't see the small river that had made its way onto her dress and was spreading rapidly towards the immaculately clean white tiles on the floor. "I will have a nurse sent to room when we are through here."

Weiss clenched her fists and reminded herself that this was likely part of his test. "Why didn't you tell me I'd be fighting a Giant Armor made of seersteel?" she asked, fighting to keep the anger from her tone and achieving only minimal success.

His frown deepened into the sort of expression that let her know she'd missed the point. "You will never know everything about the enemies you will be facing, Weiss. Always assume that your opponent is stronger than they look."

"I'll be facing Grimm, not colossi specifically engineered to kill people," she reminded him.

Now, he almost looked angry. "If you truly wish to become a huntress, you will encounter enemies you cannot even comprehend. You will be thrown into a world that you are woefully unprepared for," he stated bluntly. "And when that happens, you will be wishing that the opposition you may encounter will be as obvious, and crumble as easily, as that Giant Armor. Let the scar that will inevitably form serve as a reminder to _never_ underestimate anyone who has the power to kill you."

_Does that include you? _she stopped herself from saying the words out loud because the unspoken implication was clear enough. The stream of blood had reached the floor, trickling onto the tiles and eliciting a scowl of disgust from her father.

"Get out of here before you stain something else."

* * *

><p>"It's a test," Weiss uttered to her team as soon as she returned to herself.<p>

"What?" asked Ruby and Yang in unison.

Blake laid a hand on her shoulder, but she barely registered the comforting gesture. "He wasn't actually intended to kill any of us, though that probably would have been a welcome surprise," Weiss explained bitterly. It hardly seemed fair to lash out at the man in his final moments, so she kept her tone as respectful as she could. "I don't know what my father offered you in exchange for your life, but I do hope it was worth it."

The sisters exchanged confused looks from across the room. "He…hired a guy to kill himself in front of us?"

Weiss shook her head, putting the rest of the pieces together in her mind before speaking. "He hired a man to kill Blake, and to kill himself if he failed. Which he likely expected."

"Am I missing something, or this making no sense to the rest of you, either?" questioned Yang, crossing her arms in front of her chest.

"He has your scar," noticed Blake.

It really was unnerving how identical the gashes were. Had her father sought out someone with a mark eerily similar to her own, or had he carved it into the man's face himself? Her eyes wandered back to the gunblade on the table, a cool shudder sliding down her spine. The man's eyes seemed to refocus momentarily, and he met the faunus's gaze with a stare that seemed almost lucid before he gave another violent jerk, breaths coming out in short gasps again, as if Yang had dropped back onto his stomach.

"Belladonna…" said Ruby, pulling away from her scope to look at the man with eyes that betrayed her sadness.

Yang looked back and forth between the three of them before huffing in frustration. "Look, I'm tired, sore, there's a guy dying over there, and I took a few hits to the head, so I'm not exactly firing at full capacity. Can one of you explain what the hell is going on?"

"When I didn't return to Atlas, I sent my father a message, explaining that I intended to 'continue my training' beyond the kingdoms," Weiss whispered. "I told him to think of it as a final test. I didn't wait for a reply. I should have expected that he'd be upset enough to test me himself," her eyes connected with Yang's, reflecting her gratitude, "or, rather, _us. _The thing about his tests is that they're usually lessons themselves."

Yang just snorted, releasing a puff of steam as she did so. "Don't see how that even qualifies as a lesson. I don't know about you, but all _I _learned is that full bladders save lives."

Weiss sighed, pressing her fingers to the bridge of her nose. "Look at the man with my scar, slowly dying of belladonna nightshade, and tell me you don't see what he's trying to tell me."

A full five seconds passed before understanding softened Yang's face. "Oh."

Everyone made a point of not looking at Blake.

"So…_are_ there more of them?" Ruby asked her partner after a few more seconds had passed.

Her instinct said no, but it wouldn't be the first time he'd surprised her. "I don't know. Maybe." The man's convulsions were becoming a constant, and now that the adrenaline was fading, she was starting to feel sick.

"I'll take care of him," Blake said, catching the look of discomfort on her face.

Weiss shook her head, crossing to the table, lifting the gunblade into the air and examining it closely. Now that she knew what to look for, she realized that the metal of the blade was warmer than the rest of the weapon. That told her all she needed to know. "This is my responsibility."

She tried not to think about the words. She tried not to think about what she had to do. She tried not to notice the man's thousand yard stare as she approached him with the weapon clutched behind her back.

"This is your last chance to speak," she said as she lowered herself to his level, searching his eyes for any glimmer of recognition or understanding. It did not come. Her mind filled with funeral rites, but she discarded every one of them almost immediately. Ending his struggle was the only mercy she could manage.

She saw the blade enter her field of vision and come to rest over his chest.

"Goodbye."

* * *

><p>When the darkness returned, Weiss lay in its embrace, eyes cast up towards the ceiling. She could feel the air around her growing colder. Blake hadn't said a word to her after she had taken the man's life, but she had kicked into autopilot, sorting through his meager belongings and helping Yang move the body outside. From her position, she could hear the muffled conversation that was occurring between them on the wooden stairs outside, but even when she stilled her breath and strained her ears, she could not make out a single word of what was said.<p>

"Weiss?"

She abandoned her attempts to listen, letting out a long sigh. "Yes, Ruby?"

"Is there anything I can do?" There was no mistaking the worry in her tone.

"No," she answered shortly.

Dissatisfied with that answer, Ruby slipped off of her mattress, padding across the floor on bare feet to reach Weiss's bed. She didn't have to worry about the blood, as she had scrubbed the vast majority of it, leaving only faded red stains in the wood. When she reached her partner, she knelt down beside her and gently wrapped her arms around her chilled frame. "I know you well enough to know what you're thinking about."

She was thinking about many things. Foremost among them was the complete stillness that had taken over the man's limbs when she had removed the gunblade from his heart. But there were no words to describe that with, none that she could say to Ruby. Possibly not to anyone. No matter what justifications her mind produced, nothing could change the fact that she had ended his life.

Weiss turned her attention to the other problem competing for her attention. "I can't win," she whispered, stiff as a board in Ruby's embrace. "If I stay, he'll send more. If I return to Atlas, I'll have given him exactly what he wants, and I don't even have a guarantee that he won't try to kill her again. And if he does, I won't be there to protect her."

Ruby's only response was to squeeze her tighter.

"I don't know what to do."

"I'll support whatever decision you make."

"Will Yang?"

Silence reigned for a long moment. "Yang might be mad, but she'll come around. This isn't exactly simple."

Weiss chuckled humorlessly. "That's about the kindest way to describe it."

"Can I ask you a question?"

"You just did."

Ruby gave her a half-hearted slap. "Can I ask you _another _question?"

Despite everything, the ghost of a smile touched Weiss's features. Slowly, she returned the embrace. "Go ahead."

"What do you _want _to do?"

"Ensure Blake's safety," she said without missing a beat.

Ruby shook her head. "Take your father out of the equation for a moment."

Weiss let out an exasperated sigh. "I don't have that luxury."

Ruby wasn't budging. "You do for the sake of answering one little question."

Silence returned.

"You're not married to your response. It's not meant to trick you or anything," Ruby added after a moment. "Do you want to take over SDC, or do you want to stay with us?"

In a perfect world, she might have been able to do both. Ruby would have loved Atlas, she was quite sure. She would likely be tempted away from field work if Weiss lured her with the promise of giving her a full run of SDC Weapons Division. Yang would be less enthused, but she could probably be convinced to stay for at least a short amount of time, if only to point and laugh at the Schnee lifestyle. But she could never bring Blake across the border. She would be scorned and ridiculed at best, murdered by her father at worst.

The thought eclipsed all else. "I'm not ready to leave her," she admitted softly, just as the groaning stairs announced the end of the conversation outside.

The metal door opened, revealing Blake's silhouette for a moment before it shut again. "Yang is keeping watch until sunrise," she announced as she crossed to Weiss's mattress.

Ruby gave one final squeeze before standing back up and making her way back to her own mattress.

There was a pause, a lingering moment of uncertainty, a wordless request for permission reflected in the eyes that shone with inhuman brightness in the dark. She granted it by reaching forward, groping for Blake's hand until she took the hint and laced their fingers together, lowering onto the mattress and wrapping her free arm tightly around Weiss with a fierceness that surprised her. Stiff fingers dug into the muscle of her shoulder as Blake brought their bodies together, clinging to Weiss as if she might disintegrate at any moment. It took a moment for Weiss to detect the gentle tremble in her hand, and another for her to realize that it wasn't coming from herself.

Wordlessly, she pulled Blake onto her lap, fingers splaying through her hair. It was difficult to cradle someone taller than she was, but Blake made it easier when she curled up into a tight ball and hid her face in Weiss's chest. Cold hands sifted through black hair, easing out the tangles before she moved to gently rub at the faunus's ears, pressed flat to her skull. All the while Blake did not let go, as if she were determined to staple herself to her girlfriend's lap.

It was a long time before the gentle trembling ceased into slow, even breathing. The first rays of daylight were already peeking through the window by the time Weiss finally lowered her head into Blake's hair and allowed herself to drift off. That night, she dreamed that the dead were reaching out to her with fingers of ice.


End file.
